


Miraculous Spellbooks: The Book of Creation

by BunnyMask



Series: Miraculous Spellbooks [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Friendship, Gen, Magic, Magic-Users
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-04-29 22:05:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 20,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14482182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BunnyMask/pseuds/BunnyMask
Summary: Marinette's luck has never been "good". Some would even call it a curse. So when her third year at Sunstone Academy begins with her receiving the worst possible roommate, she isn't surprised--she's filled with dread. Marinette must find a way out of this situation before her new roommate destroys her.





	1. Unlucky

Something was burning.  


Maybe it was another memory of the bakery. It could be one of those first few cupcake attempts. The smoke burned her nose. It felt more real than the icing that sometimes danced at the tip of her tongue or her mother’s scent on her sweaters. It wasn’t like her father’s voice running through her head while she studied or the heat of the oven she felt when laying in bed. It lingered much too long to be a fading memory.

Marinette’s eyes shot open.

She choked. The smoke obscured her room. There really was a fire! She threw off her blankets as she attempted to catch her breath. There had to be a spell she could use. Before her feet could settle on the ground, she hit the floor. Her face was the first thing to contact the hard, smooth, cold stones. It was easier to breathe at least. She massaged her face in an attempt to relieve the pain.

Marinette lifted herself, careful not to fall again.

A hand popped through the smoke. Marinette shrieked and fell backward. The dark smoke made the already pale hand look white.

“Marinette!” Her roommate’s voice cut through the smoke, “Are you okay?”

“Juleka? What’s happening?”

“A potion went wrong, sorry.”

Marinette grabbed Juleka’s hand. Juleka pulled Marinette to her feet and dodged as Marinette tripped towards her. Before Marinette could hit the ground again, Juleka snatched Marinette’s shirt and pulled her back to her feet. Juleka whispered a spell as Marinette balanced herself.

The smoke gathered together forming a line. It moved past Marinette and into Juleka’s hands. Juleka pressed her palms together. She parted her hands revealing a gemstone. The blacks and greys on its smooth surface swirled around each other in an eternal dance. Marinette resisted the urge to touch it. 

It was odd for Juleka to be working on a potion so early in the morning. She brought her eyes to Juleka’s face. Her eyes threatened to close any second. Her hair was pulled into a sloppy ponytail.

“Late night?”

Juleka nodded.

“What was so important?”

Juleka looked down at the floor as she explained. She was trying to make a potion to ward off bad luck that she could give to Marinette as a parting gift. She thought it was going well, but then it exploded.

“That’s really sweet,” Marinette smiled. “It was a nice thought.”

Juleka sighed.

“A physical potion is a lot nicer than a thought.”

“No, really, just the attempt is a gift on its own! Besides, my luck isn’t so bad that I need magical intervention.” Marinette attempted to sit on her bed, but missed and hit the floor. “Ouch.”

Juleka offered her hand. Marinette thanked Juleka and pulled herself up. She leaned the bed frame. The frame broke. Marinette toppled onto her bed. Her bed collapsed under her. She screamed as she hit the floor. A leg from the bed flew up and hit Juleka’s potion shelf. A potion fell, rolled to Juleka’s bed, and blew up. Juleka’s bed collapsed.

“Oops.” Marinette struggled to her feet. She walked past Juleka to get the broom and her utility belt.

“I’ve tried everything.” 

“What was that?” Marinette passed Juleka and began to sweep up the glass from the broken potion.

“I have tried everything!”

Marinette jumped back. Juleka’s wasn’t usually so loud. Marinette started picking up the bed frame, keeping her eyes on Juleka.

“I’ve tried everything! I’ve tried potions. I’ve tried charms. I’ve tried spells. I’ve tried herbs. I’ve tried magnets. I’ve read every book I could find. I’ve scoured the deepest depths of the internet. I’ve bought fairy dust. I’ve ground dragon scales. Do you know how hard it is to find a dragon scale? Do you know how hard it is to grind a dragon scale?”

“Juleka--”

“Nothing works! Try after try, nothing can subdue that bad luck of yours!”

“Juleka--”

“I had to resort to creating my own potions with leftovers and it blew up on us! It would take some kind of ancient forgotten magic to even start canceling it out.”

“Juleka, can you hold up these bedposts?”

“Oh, of course.”

Juleka held the bed posts up as Marinette used her spool of wire to weave the bed frame back together. It was a quick job, but Marinette sure it was sturdy and looked like decorations. Juleka watched as Marinette worked.

“You’ve been through so much this year,” Juleka’s voice was back to its usual volume. “Chloe’s harsher than ever and without Bridgette around I’ve noticed you falling behind in magic. I just wanted to help, even a little bit.”

Marinette pulled Juleka into a hug. She hadn’t even noticed Juleka was trying so hard to help her. Marinette thanked her. Juleka nodded. Her voice was quiet, but she accepted Marinette’s gratitude. Marinette released Juleka and went to make her bed.

This would be the last time she made this bed or at least with Juleka standing by. Juleka packed away her potion kit. She apologized for her outburst. Marinette shook her head. She didn’t have any reason to apologize.

The two picked up their bags.

They took a final look at the room--their room. With their things packed away, the room looked the same as it had when they’d moved in. Well, the same plus all repairs they’d been forced to make over the year.

“Well,” Juleka tugged at the sleeve of her gown, “I guess it’s time to leave.”

Marinette nodded.

Juleka opened the door.

“Wait,” Marinette reached for her waist and retrieved her wire. She dropped her bag and opened it up. She pulled out a silver chain and a pair of pliers. She put her palm out toward Juleka. “Can I see that smoke gem?”

Juleka handed it to Marinette. Marinette smiled and thanked her. Juleka crouched down. She watched Marinette’s hands as she wrapped the wire around the gem. She ended the wire with a loop, reinforced it, then strung the chain through the loop. She turned and hooked the necklace around Juleka’s neck.

“There a souvenir from our last morning together.”

Juleka smiled and helped Marinette to her feet.

“I’ve always wanted a Marinette original,” Juleka looked down as she spoke, “I was too embarrassed to ask. I didn’t want to trouble you.”

“It’s no trouble! I love making stuff. Just don’t go full Kim on me.”

They both laughed as they made their way down the hallway.


	2. Roommates

As Juleka and Marinette walked down the hallway, Marinette regretted not spending more time with Juleka. Juleka was a good roommate. She never got annoyed with Marinette’s constant mishaps. Even when Marinette knocked over a potion or broke one of her possessions, Juleka never gave her dirty looks. Their bond was formed through nights of repairs and mornings of tossing around ideas for preventative projects.

Each step closer to the lobby was one moment closer to the end of their time together. Marinette took a deep breath. Maybe they’d be on the same team. It wasn’t a stretch. Kim had been on her team last year after being her roommate the year before. Even if they were on different teams, maybe they’d find time to hang out. Maybe Marinette’s next roommate would be as nice as Juleka. Maybe she’d even get paired with Nino this year.

They were the last of all the third years to arrive. Marinette noticed two new faces in the crowd. She’d never thought they’d get new students two years in. She crossed her fingers. Hopefully, they’d be nice. Hopefully, neither of them would be another--

“Chloe,” Martha the magical interface called from the center of the room, “your new roommate will be Marinette.”

Juleka gasped.

Juleka looked at Marinette, her mouth agape. Marinette forced herself to smile. She shrugged at Juleka then made her way to the center of the room. Martha made them promise to take care of each other before assigning a room to them. It wasn’t too far from her old room. Marinette and Chloe shook hands. Pleased, Martha called up the next pair.

As they returned to their spots in the circle, Marinette avoided eye contact with Chloe. Juleka patted Marinette on the back as she headed to the center. Juleka was paired with Rose. They’d never been roommates or teammates before, but they tended to get along. Nino was paired with the new boy, Adrien. Marinette nudged Nino.

“Be nice, Nino,” she teased.

“I’m always nice.”

Sabrina was paired with the new girl, Alya. Marinette could vaguely remember a time when Sabrina wasn’t just an extension of Chloe. She’d been quiet and even kind of sweet. Now she was just another mean girl. Marinette hoped Sabrina wouldn’t give Alya a hard time.

After the first few pairings, Marinette stopped paying attention. She needed to figure out how to survive a year with Chloe. Chloe was the worst. She’d been picking on Marinette since their first day at Sunstone Academy.

With everyone paired, Martha sent them off to settle into their new rooms. As they exited the lobby, Martha called the next class up. Marinette grimaced and headed towards her room.

“Marinette,” Chloe’s voice came from behind her. Marinette froze. “You aren’t going to our room without me, right?”

“Oh, of course not.”

“Good,” Chloe walked pass Marinette. Chloe stopped. “I almost forgot. Carry these.” Chloe dropped her bags in front of Marinette. Marinette sighed and picked the bags up.

Marinette followed Chloe down the hall. Chloe opened the door to their room and entered. Before Marinette could even get her foot in the doorway, Chloe started listing things Marinette could not touch. The listed included: Both of the desks-- one was for Chloe's makeup and the other for Sabrina to do homework--, the television, the entire bookshelf--reserved for Chloe’s photos and Choe approved decor, which did not include Marinette’s sculptures--, and Chloe’s clothing and makeup--unless Marinette was doing laundry or cleaning the vanity. Marinette grimaced as Chloe continued with her list.

“Chloe, you can’t just--”

Chloe turned to Marinette, glaring. “I can’t just what?” Her eyes dared Marinette to continue.

“These rules are too much.”

“You think so?” Chloe rose her hand. Electricity sparked from her fingertips. “Then beat me in a fight and I’ll let you do as you please.”

Marinette took a step back. She looked down at her feet. 

“Nevermind.”

Chloe crossed her arms and smirked.

“Exactly the response I expected from a spineless squid. Whatever, it’s not like you could beat me anyway.”

Chloe turned back around and started unpacking.

There was no way that Marinette could take a year of this. It wasn’t possible. She couldn’t breathe. The room threatened to crush her. Marinette tumbled into the hallway gulping for air. A year with Chloe was sure to destroy her soul. Maybe that was the reason Sabrina was so different now. Marinette took a deep breath and thought of the bakery. Her parents were there, making pastries and smiling. She exhaled. She could breathe again. Things weren't so bad. 

Someone crashed into Marinette. They hit the floor. Marinette sighed. She was even a safety hazard standing still. Next to her laid Alya. Alya fixed her glasses. Their eyes met. Marinette blinked. Alya grinned and jumped to her feet. She offered Marinette a hand. Marinette apologized as she stood up.

“Why are you apologizing? I ran into you.”

“Force of habit.”

Alya laughed. Her laugh was loud and joyful and… kind of cute. Marinette smiled. Alya introduced herself. She was living in the room right across the hall from her. She had run out excited to explore the school when she crashed into Marinette. 

“But, I should probably finish unpacking first, huh?”

Marinette nodded. 

Alya went into her room.

“Oh!” Alya popped her head out the doorway. “Can I depend on you to be my school guide?”

“Yea, of course!”

“Thanks,” Alya winked and went back inside.

Marinette started down the hallway. Alya seemed nice.

“Marinette!” Kim ran up to her. “You're so lucky to room with Chloe!”

Marinette disagreed. Kim asked for a loc of Chloe's hair. Marinette refused. Not only was that weird, Marinette was banned from touching Chloe's brush and her hair. Kim's disappointment was momentary.

“Can I have that then?” Kim pointed to the wire in Marinette’s hands. 

Marinette looked at the wire she was fidgeting with. It looked like bent wire.

“It's not done. Besides, haven't you hoarded enough of my wire?”

“How can your biggest fan have too many of your sculptures? Anyway, this one isn't for me, it's for Max as like a moving in gift.”

“Couldn't you give him one of the ones you already have?”

“I couldn't.”

Kim was a mystery even after two years of knowing him. He had a good heart though. 

“Well, I guess you can have it.”

“Yes!” Kim pumped his fist.

Marinette sat on the floor. Kim plopped down next to her. Marinette took out her pliers and got to work. When she was finished, she sat her little person on the floor. Kim seemed excited about it.

A white boot stomped down and crushed the sculpture.

“Oops,” Chloe lifted her foot. “I must have stepped on some garbage.”

She walked away laughing.


	3. Awkward

Adrien finished putting his clothes inside of the dresser. Nino, his roommate, laid in bed wearing headphones. Adrien looked around the room. The walls and shelves had obviously been altered and repaired. The bed frames were wrapped with metal wire. It was pretty.

Adrien tugged at the wire. It was tight. Did it have a non-decorative purpose? He tugged it again.

“Don’t,” Nino sat up and looked at him.

Adrien stopped. Had he done something wrong?

“I--um, I'm finished unpacking.” Adrien stood up.

Nino started unpacking. Adrien watched Nino. What type of person was he? They hadn't talked much, but he seemed friendly enough. Nino looked at him. Adrien looked away. Had he been caught staring? He peeked at Nino. He couldn't tell by his expression.

“You don't mind music do you?” Nino looked directly at Adrien.

“I don't mind.”

Nino set up some kind of technology on one of the desks. The only thing Adrien recognized was a keyboard. Adrien moved in closer to observe the mysterious objects. Nino looked at him. Adrien looked away.

“Hey,” Nino pointed at the other desk. Adrien looked at it. Nino told Adrien the desk was for him. Adrien thanked him. Nino stared at him. Adrien looked away. Had he responded wrong? He brought his eyes back to Nino. Nino was still looking at him. “Don’t you have anything else to unpack?”

“I was told school supplies are provided here.”

Nino laughed.

Adrien stiffened. What was funny?

“Geez,” Nino smiled, “I meant decorations or something hobby related. Maybe some stuff to remind you of home.”

“Oh,” Adrien’s face was hot. He hadn’t thought to bring anything like that. He wasn’t even sure he had anything like that. “My father is a fashion designer, so all my clothes remind me of home.”  
“Is that right?” Nino crossed the room.

He started hanging up posters and pictures. Many of the posters had music and audio jokes Adrien only partly understood. The pictures were of Nino and their classmates. One of the girls made several appearances. Adrien believed her name was Marinette and she was Chloe’s roommate. She had a cute smile in the pictures where she was smiling. Otherwise, she had an expressive face which seemed unable to hide her feelings. A couple of Nino photos even had Chloe in them, though neither Nino or Chloe seemed happy about it. The one with Chloe that stood out the most was Nino, Chloe, Sabrina, and Rose in a group hug. Despite being covered in dirt and scratches Nino, Rose, and Sabrina were cheering and wrapping their arms around each other. Chloe was making a face of disgust, but her arms were also wrapped around them.

“Any hobbies?” Nino seemed to be purposely covering all the damaged spots on the wall first.

“I fence. Does that count?”

“Relax, I’m not judging you or anything.

“Oh,” Adrien hadn’t realized he was tense. He relaxed his shoulders. “I didn’t mean to.”

“The training area has fencing equipment.” Nino walked over to Adrien,” If you need any help settling in or getting around, I’d be happy to help.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem.”

Adrien’s phone buzzed. He looked down at the screen. It was time for him to meet up with Felix. He thanked Nino again before heading out the door.

Adrien took his time as he walked down the hall. He examined the pictures, art, and bulletin board posts. The pictures, much like the ones Nino hung, were of his classmates. While some seemed to be taken at events, most of them were just the students hanging out. The art varied. There were drawings, paintings, and wire sculptures. Most pieces were signed by Marinette or Nathaniel. The bulletin boards, there were three in the hall, were filled with reminders and request. There were notes of whose turn it was to clean the showers, sweep the halls, clean the windows, and do laundry. Under ‘Showers’ Chloe’s name, third on the list, was bolded and circled with arrows pointing at it. Beneath the arrows it read:

“Chloe Bourgeois I know you can see this! If you skip your chores again this week I will put your ‘delicate fabrics’ in the dryer! Don’t make me do it! --Alix”

Adrien felt like he was walking through someone’s house. He stopped at a picture of Nino and Marinette. The two sat in long wild grass. They were dressed formally. The two were facing each other, foreheads pressed together, laughing about something. It seemed to be a genuine, intimate moment. Who had taken the picture?

“The cute ones are always taken.”

Adrien turned in the direction of the voice. Alya was standing next to him, looking up at the portrait.

“You think those two are dating?” Adrien looked back at the picture.

“Seems that way.”

“Oh, maybe.” Adrien scanned the picture. It definitely could be read in a romantic way.

“Anyway, Adrien, I wanted to thank you.”

“Thank me?” Adrien turned to look at her, “I haven’t done anything worth thanks.”

“I couldn’t have gotten in without you.”

It was a bit true. Sunstone Academy only accepted students in pairs to keep the numbers even.

“But I couldn’t have gotten in without you either.”

“Hmm,” Alya tapped her chin, “I guess that makes us even then.”

“Yea.”

Adrien’s phone buzzed, reminding him that he was supposed to meet with Felix. He waved to Alya then walked into the lobby.


	4. Lobby

There was talking in the lobby. The room was wide and open. Adrien hadn’t realized how big it was with all the students crammed inside. The main color of the lobby was red. It had flat red carpet and red wallpaper. The second color to make frequent appearances was gold. It was on the chandelier and trimmed many pieces of furniture. There were lots of places to lounge in the lobby. There were couches, bean bag chairs, bookshelves, and a water dispenser. There were a few students, sitting around and talking. The windows were wide and open. The doors were glass, letting in more light. Towards the back of the room was the front desk. Felix was at the front desk. He was with Marinette. Martha was behind the desk. She appeared to be listening, but her reactions were stiff.

“There does not appear to be an action I can take to fix your problem, Marinette.” Martha ran her finger across a computer screen like she was flipping through a book.

“But Martha--”

“She doesn't pick the pairings,” Felix adjusted the cuff on his shirt, “and she doesn’t have the power to change them.”

“Felix is correct.”

“I know,” Marinette leaned on the counter, “but isn’t there someone who can?”

Marinette slipped, nearly face planting into the counter before catching herself. Neither Felix or Martha reacted to her fall.

“We could try to arrange a meeting with the principal,” Felix adjusted his other cuff.

“Really?” She turned to Felix, “We can do that?”

“We can try,” Felixa adjusted his tie, “but I can’t promise anything. The Bourgeois have a lot of pull here so it might not make a difference.”

Marinette grabbed Felix’s hands and smiled at him. 

“But we’ll try?”

Felix nodded.

Felix noticed Adrien approaching and pulled his hands away from Marinette. He welcomed Adrien, then turned back to Marinette.

“Marinette,” he gestured towards her, “this is my cousin Adrien. Adrien, this is my… Well… This is Marinette.”

“Hello, Adrien, “ she smiled at him, “nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you,” Adrien took her hand and shook it. Her hands were soft and smooth. He released her hand.

“Lucky you,” Marinette turned her gaze back to Felix, “being related to the student council president.”

“Really?” Adrien turned to Felix, “You are?”

“Probably not much longer,” Felix adjusted his watch, “election season is in a couple of months. Are you ready for your tour?”

Felix’s phone rang. He answered it. As he listened to the person on the other end, he grew more frustrated. He asked the person to hold, then turned to Adrien.

“We’ll have to postpone our outing. An unauthorized magic battle broke out and I need to go diffuse the situation. Marinette we’ll talk more about your situation later. Please help Adrien get to his classes.”

“Yes, sir!” Marinette saluted. Adrien could swear that for a brief second he saw Felix smile. Felix ran off.

“I see the resemblance,” Marinette turned her smile back to Adrien.

“I heard that a lot growing up. Are you two close?”

“Close? Not really. We just know each other through a friend.”

The conversation tapered off. Adrien tried to think of something--anything to say to her. He looked at her. She was pretty, but that wasn’t much of a talking point.

“Hey, Adrien, Mari,” Nino walked up and put and arm around Marinette’s shoulders. He pulled her into a hug. Marinette nuzzled her head under his chin. The two seemed comfortable in that position. Maybe they were a couple. “I thought you had to meet somebody?”

“We had to reschedule,” Adrien averted his eyes from the two, trying no to stare.

“Well that’s probably best,” Nino shrugged, “We have to be grouped into teams soon anyway.”

“Really?” Adrien didn’t know it would happen so fast.

“Yea, they like to get the teams together as soon as possible,” Nino gestured with the arm he wasn't using to hold Marinette. “Walk with us, so you don’t get lost.”

As they exited the lobby, Alya joined them. Nino teased Marinette about her pajamas. She nudged him in the ribs. Adrien watched the two. He thought back to the picture in the hallway. It really captured the vibe the two of them had. They probably were dating. Adrien frowned. He knew the feeling of disappointment well, but he didn’t know the reason it was settling in his stomach.


	5. Teammates

Nino opened the door to the homeroom class. He let Alya, Adrien, and Marinette enter before he did. Marinette and Alya entered first, continuing their conversation about great heroes. The moment Adrien stepped into the classroom, Chloe called out to him. All their classmates looked at Adrien. Adrien noticed their eyes and looked down. He gave Chloe a small wave. Poor, kid, being associated with Chloe on the first day of school was not a good look for him. Nino patted Adrien on the back. Adrien stiffened. Well, that backfired. Nino pulled his hand away.

“Come one, Adrihoney!” Chloe stood up and waved at him. “I saved you a seat.”

Adrien looked at Nino. Nino wasn’t sure what Adrien expected him to do. Adrien slid toward Chloe as if he was being pulled in. Nino looked from Adrien to Chloe. Chloe coaxed the air with her index finger until Adrien stopped in front of her desk. Chloe put her hand down and smile. That was a rare sight. She must really like Adrien.

“I have made so many plans for us!” Chloe hugged Adrien. 

The class was silent. All eyes were on the two of them. If Chloe noticed, she didn’t show it. Adrien, on the other hand, looked horrified that everyone was looking at him. He kept his eyes down. Chloe sat Adrien down next to her and started talking to him. Adrien smiled and nodded. Sabrina was on the other side of Chloe doing the same. Not that Chloe seemed to notice now that Adrien was in front of her. It was odd that Adrien and Chloe were friends. Nino had always assumed Chloe had been summoned here from the demon realm and Adrien seemed like a nice person.

Nino brought his attention to Marinette and Alya. They were already chatting like old friends. Between subjects, Alya would ask Marinette all kinds of questions which Marinette would answer to the best of her abilities. Nino smiled. It was good to see Marinette getting along with Alya like that. She hadn’t been very cheerful or talkative since Bridgette left. 

He didn’t want to interrupt them. Nino put on his headphones and leaned against the wall. He turned on his music as his eyes wandered around the classroom. Rose and Juleka were talking to each other. They both had their magic journals out and seemed to be swapping information. Kim was with Max. He was showing off his sculpture collection to Max who took pictures and typed things down on his laptop. Mylene, Alix, Ivan, and Nathaniel were the furthest back. Alix and Ivan were arm wrestling. Mylene was trying to stop them, but Nathaniel was cheering them on.

The teacher walked in.

Nino turned off his music. The teacher told everyone to take a seat, so they could begin.

Nino sat behind Adrien. Marinette sat on the other side of Nino and Alya sat next to Marinette. Marinette twisted her wire as the teacher talked. Nino looked down at Adrien. Adrien was looking at him. Adrien turned forward and buried his face in his hands. Nino tried not to laugh. 

“Alright,” the teacher flipped open her notebook, “let’s get started. Marinette please come to the front.”

Marinette jumped up. She fell forward. Nino and Alya both grabbed her before she could fall onto Chloe. Marinette hurried to the front.

“Alya.”

Alya jumped up and ran to the front, hugging Marinette upon arrival.

“Nino.”

Nino got up. He reached to pat Adrien on the back but didn’t want to freak him out again. Marinette smiled as Nino arrived next to her. She grabbed his hand. He intertwined his fingers with hers.

“And Adrien.”

Chloe gasped as Adrien stood up. He joined the three of them, still looking down at his feet.

“You four will be team MANA.”

The teacher directed them to a corner in the room to introduce themselves. The other teams were teams were Sabrina, Max, Alix, Chloe, and Kim (SMACK) and Juleka, Ivan, Rose, Mylene, and Nathaniel (JIRMN). They were sent to different corners to bond. The teams settled in and began talking among themselves.

Nino put his headphones on Marinette. He wanted to show her the songs, he’d written over break. Marinette bobbed her head to the beat. Alya turned her attention to Nino.

“What’s with that Chloe chick? Why is everyone so weird around her?”

Adrien scooted closer to Nino and Alya. They both looked at him. He looked down and tugged on his shirt. Nino lifted his hand, but he wasn’t sure how to reassure him.

“Chloe’s a bully.” Nino didn’t want to sugarcoat it.

“She’s a bully?” Adrien looked up at him.

Nino nodded.

“She’s very good at battle magic, one of the best among the third years. Plus her family pretty much owns half of the school. So the combo of her strength and wealth combine and she can get away with being the worst version of herself.”

“We should knock her down a peg.” Alya hit her fist against her palm, “Defend the weak and all that jazz!”

“I like you,” Nino chuckled.

“Well, I’m pretty likable!”

Marinette removed the headphones. She handed them to Nino, who immediately put them on Adrien. Nino restarted the music.

“You’re braver than me, Alya.” Marinette started fidgeting with her wire. “I can’t even defend myself from Chloe, but you want to defend everyone.”

Nino put a hand on Marinette’s shoulder.

“Marinette!” She jumped at the sound of Chloe’s voice. Chloe walked up, pushing her way between Marinette and Nino and linked arms with Marinette. Marinette stiffened. “We need to talk.”

Nino rolled his eyes. “Chloe--”

“We’re busy right now,” Alya separated the two, pulling Marinette away from Chloe. Chloe glared at her.

“Are we gonna have a problem, new girl?”

“We are if you keep bothering Marinette.” Alya stepped in front of Marinette forming a barrier between Marinette and Chloe. Alya seemed like the kind of person whose method of getting rid of a beehive was to poke at it with a stick.

“Let’s settle this with a battle,” Chloe rose her hand and electric sparks jumped across her fingertips.

“Sounds good,” cards appeared in Alya’s hand. She fanned them out.

They glared at each other. Eyes across the classroom focused in on the two of them. The started preparing an arena spell.

“Whoa! Whoa!” Adrien took off the headphones. “Isn’t fighting a bit much?”

They both looked at him.

“I mean…” His face went red and he seemed to lose his words.

“Adrien’s right,” Marinette stepped between them, “there’s no reason to fight each other.”

“But Marinette--”

“It’s fine, Alya,” Marinette gave her a small pat on the shoulder, “Chloe is my roommate, after all.”

Marinette followed Chloe into the hallway. Despite the teacher’s objections, the class crowded around the door in an attempt to listen in. They could see the two, but they could not hear them through the door. Nino made sure no one was watching him before he channeled his magic into his music player. He plugged his headphones into the player then put the player against the wall. There was static, but their voices came in.

“Is that the truth?” Marinette sounded worried.

“Marinette, I know we’ve had our differences, but I would never lie about Adrien.” Nino rolled his eyes. There wasn’t a single thing Chloe wasn’t capable of lying about. “So just avoid direct eye contact, if you can manage.”

“Yea, I can do that!”

“Good.”

Chloe and Marinette returned to the classroom. Everyone scrambled back to their areas.


	6. Library

“What exactly did she say to you?” Alya pulled out her notebook and eyed Marinette.

“Ah, well,” Marinette looked over at Adrien, then back at Alya, “Nothing! Nothing important.”

“You sure?”

“Yea,” Marinette nodded.

“Mari,” Nino leaned in close to her, “You know you can’t trust Chloe, right?”

Marinette pushed her bangs behind her ear and looked down at her hands.

“Yea, I know, but I think she’s telling the truth this time.”

“Yea? What did she say?” Nino tilted his head toward her. Marinette’s eyes darted to Adrien then back at Nino. Nino glanced over at Adrien. “Fine, I’ll drop it.”

Marinette smiled at him. He smiled back. Alya thought about that picture of the two of them in the hall. They seemed… close. Alya looked over to at Adrien. He was looking over at Marinette and Nino. Maybe he was thinking something similar. She wondered if she should ask the two about the photo--for Adrien’s sake. She didn’t really care about their relationship status, but she could tell Adrien wanted to know. Just as she was about to ask, Marinette brought her attention back to Alya.

“Did you have any more questions, Alya?”

Alya froze. Was Marinette onto her?

“Tons,” Alya flipped through the notebook, “where should I start?”

Alya started asking more questions about the school. She could ask about the photo later. Marinette answered questions for Alya until the class ended. Nino chimed in sometimes to help Marinette out when she needed it. Adrien was quiet, only speaking when someone directed the conversation towards him.

“Do you want me to give you a tour of the campus?” Marinette walked next to Alya as they exited the classroom.

“That be great. I heard this school has quite an impressive library.”

“It is pretty nice,” Marinette fidgeted with her wire. She smiled, almost like a compliment towards the school was a compliment towards her.

The walk to the library was short, but it seemed long. Alya couldn’t help herself. She had to stop at every cool and interesting detail and ask Marinette about. It was a surprise to Alya that Marinette could answer most of her questions. Did all the students know so much about the school or had she just got lucky when she crashed into Marinette? Alya tried to memorize the path to the library. She would be spending lots of time there.

Alya glanced at Marinette. When Alya wasn’t asking questions Marinette was quiet. They’d talked a lot in the classroom. Maybe Marinette was already tired of Alya’s prying. Marinette caught Alya’s gaze. They stopped.

“That thing with Chloe,” Marinette fiddled with her fingers, “You didn’t have to do that.”

Alya smiled. “You didn’t have to step into it, but you did.”

“I did have to,” Marinette looked at Alya, “You’re very nice, you shouldn’t get involved with Chloe. I didn’t want you to be her new target. I don’t want that for you.”

Alya’s heart jumped. Marinette was sweet. She looked away and composed herself. Even if Marinette didn’t want her involved, Alya wasn’t going to allow Chloe to get away with bullying people.

“I don’t want that for you either.”

“Oh,” Marinette looked away and pushed her bangs behind her ear, “that’s very nice.” She pointed to the side. “We’re at the library.”

Alya took that as a signal that Marinette wanted the conversation to end. Alya entered the elaborately carved doors. The ceilings were high. The bookshelves touched the ceiling. The bookshelves stretched on forever in either direction. Alya’s legs went weak. She fell. Was it really possible for a place like this to exist? It didn’t look nearly this big on the outside.

Marinette helped Alya to her feet. She said something, but Alya didn’t hear her. Alya moved towards down the aisles. She scanned shelf after shelf, plucking books out and adding them to her stack. She found the shelves did not go on forever. They ended a few feet before the walls allowing for people to get to the next shelf.

Along the walls were openings that led to a smaller area of the library. Alya peeked into each area. There was an area for movies, an area for video games, and even an area for music. Alya found the study area, where many students were scattered around doing work. This area had smaller bookshelves and a bunch of tables. Alya found a table. She set her books down. She ran back and forth between her table and the shelves until a mountain of books were on the table.

Alya sat down and sorted the books. There were spellbooks, history books, blueprints of the school, and documents on past students. There were books on every subject written by all kinds of people. She found a soft covered brown book wedged between two textbooks. She didn’t remember grabbing it, but she didn’t remember grabbing most of them. It was likely a book of spells or a diary of some type. She opened it. After leafing through a few pages of spells a header on one page caught her attention.

“Notes on the Legends of Sunstone Academy”

The rest of the page was blank. She turned the page. The next page was blank. She flipped through it, all of the pages following that header were blank. Alya tilted her head. Why was it blank?

Marinette screamed.

Alya jumped up and ran in that direction.


	7. The Red Book

Marinette watched Alya dash around the library. She seemed to be having a good time. Marinette smiled. She decided to wander around until Alya needed her again. She walked through aisles of books, trying to figure out the types of books she should get. When she went down one aisle, she saw an old man on a ladder ten times his size. Marinette approached. She was careful not to make any loud sounds. The last thing she wanted to do was to startle him off his ladder. She got closer. She seemed to be looking for a book.

He fell.

Marinette tried a spell, but it didn’t work. She dived for the man. He collided with her. She hit the ground wrapping her arms around him.

“Are you okay, sir?”

“Thanks to you, I am,” He got up and dusted himself off.

Marinette jumped to her feet. “Do you need some help, sir?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to trouble you.”

“It’s no trouble at all!”

“Well, if you insist,” He pointed upward, “there’s a red book up there I was trying to retrieve. Could you get it for me?”

Marinette swallowed. Juleka’s luck potion sounded really good right now.

“Of course, I’ll get it.”

Marinette took a deep breath. She started up the ladder. With each step higher, she felt less stable. She stopped often to steady herself. There were a few times she was sure she’d fall. She made it to the shelf with the book. She held the ladder and balanced herself with one hand. She used her free hand to grab the book.

“I found it, sir,” she looked down. He was gone. “Hello?”

Marinette took a step down. Her foot hit the bar and slid. She lost her balance. She screamed as she barreled towards the ground.

“Marinette, open your eyes. You’re okay.”

Marinette opened her eyes. She saw red. Just above her was the book it was open. It wasn’t moving and neither was she. Above the book was a small red creature with big blue eyes.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Tikki, the fairy of the Book of Creation.”

“This book?” Marinette reached out and grazed it with her fingers. The cover was soft and smooth.

“Yes,” Tikki flew closer, “you’re it’s new guardian. You have access to all its magical powers.”

Marinette blinked. “Me?”

“Yes, you. You were chosen by the master and the previous guardian. They believe you are the right one for the job and I--”

“This isn’t really happening is it?”

“What?”

“How hard did I hit the ground?” Marinette tried to wake up. Nothing. “Tikki, am I dead?”

“No! You’re fine!”

Marinette screamed. 

The light faded out. Marinette was on the ground next to the ladder. The red book sat in front of her. She caught her breath before picking it up. She examined it. “Creation” was impressed on the front cover in gold letters. On the back was a golden outline of a ladybug.

“Marinette!” Alya darted around the corner, “What happened? Are you okay?”

“I fell.”

“Are you okay?”

Marinette nodded.

Alya helped her up. She supported Marinette’s weight until the arrived at the front desk. As Alya checked out, Marinette went to the next check out station. She handed the book to the librarian. Marinette got out her library card. She should have enough room for one more book inside the card.

The librarian examined the book thoroughly before telling Marinette it was not one of their books. She pointed to the pages and claimed they were blank. Marinette hesitated. She wondered if this was a trick. The pages of the book were crammed with writing. It was not a language she knew, but it was still writing.

The librarian handed the book back to Marinette. Marinette took a long look at the book. Had Tikki been real? She did go to a school for magic. Book fairies wouldn’t be the weirdest thing to happen. Still, why would she be chosen for something like that?

Marinette slipped the book into the spellbook pocket on her utility belt. At least she could finally put that aspect of design to use.


	8. Strength

Marinette walked Alya back to the living area. Marinette had to adjust her pace to Alya as Alya looked around the campus with wonder. Marinette watched Alya explore. It was only a couple years ago when she had been touring the campus with such excitement. At the time she’d been walking with the person who’d inspired her to study magic seriously. Marinette could almost see her walking beside her and pointing to interesting things. She stopped and pointed to the clock tower. The clock tower sat right behind the living area.

“That one’s my favorite,” Marinette gestured towards the tower, “it was built to remind everyone that magic is always with us no matter where or when we are.”

“Really?” Alya stopped and looked at it.

“Well that, and so nobody could claim they didn’t know it was time for class.”

They arrived at the doors of their rooms. Marinette hesitated. Chloe was behind that door. She would much rather stay in the hall and talk to Alya.

“Thanks for showing me around.”

Marinette turned to face Alya. Alya placed a finger on Marinette’s forehead.

“Stay strong,” Alya removed her finger, “don’t let Chloe get you down. See ya around, teammate.”

Alya walked into her room.

Marinette touched her forehead. She smiled. She walked into her room. Her smile fell.

Marinette’s bed was covered with stuff: clothes, shoes, makeup, and tons of random objects. On the other side of the room, Chloe relaxed on her bed as Sabrina rubbed her feet. Marinette’s body caught fire. She approached the two.

“Chloe!” They both looked at her. Marinette took a deep breath and forced her voice to stay calm. “What is all of this?” She motioned to her bed.

“The closet isn’t big enough for all my stuff,” Chloe flipped through her magazine. “But don’t fret, Marinette, Sabrina brought you a sleeping bag.

Chloe pointed in the opposite direction. Marinette followed Chloe’s finger to the dingy blue sack in the corner of the room. That thing did not deserve to be called a sleeping bag. It barely deserved to be called a sack. 

“I am not sleeping in that.”

“Excuse me?”

“I am no sleeping in that, Chloe!”

“Fine, reject Sabrina’s kindness. I could care less if you freeze on the floor.”

“Couldn’t care less,” Sabrina’s voice was small.

“That’s what I said,” Chloe glared at Sabrina, who shrunk back.

“I’m not sleeping on the floor,” Marinette pointed at the bed, her hand shaking, “Move your stuff.”

Chloe laughed.

“Oh, I get it,” Chloe snatched her feet from Sabrina and sat up, “You let that new girl get in your head Marinette. Did she make you think you were something?”

“Her name is Alya,” her words flashed through Marinette’s head, ‘Stay Strong.’ “And this has nothing to do with her.”

“Of course it doesn’t.” Chloe got up, knocking Sabrina over. She moved towards Marinette. “Let me remind you of something. You are nothing. Some people are born elite and others are born to bakers. Some of us are gifted with the magic of the elements and others play around with wire. Some of us are born to be on top and some unlucky people are born to be at the bottom. Can you guess which is which?”

“That’s a terrible way to look  at the world.”

“You would think that.”

“It’s not true! You’re not better than me!”

“You think so?” Chloe smiled. “Prove me wrong then. Hit me.”

Marinette froze.

“Go ahead, Marinette. You dream of hitting me don’t you? Take a shot. I won’t even hit you back.”

Marinette clenched her fist. She looked over at Sabrina. Sabrina looked away then looked down. What kind of request was that anyway? Chloe thought she was so tough. Maybe Marinette would hit her.

“You won’t do it,” Chloe leaned towards Marinette, “Because you’re weak.”

Marinette rose her hand. She pulled it back. She froze. She tried to move her hand. She couldn’t. What was she doing? This had to be some kind of trick. If she hit Chloe, she would definitely hit her back. It would probably hurt worse than anything Marinette could do to her. Even if she didn’t hit her back, what would she tell everyone? Marinette would definitely come off looking like the bad guy. Maybe Chloe would even take it to the principal. Marinette might get suspended or even expelled. What would she tell her parents?

Marinette dropped her hand.

“You’re a bad person.”

Chloe didn’t respond.

Marinette turned away. She needed to get out of here. She needed to get away from Chloe. Marinette picked up a change of clothes and her shower basket before leaving.


	9. Shower

The hot water washed over Marinette mixing with her tears. The roar of the water drowned out her sobs. She held her knees to her chest. She tried to process the events of this terrible day. As she did, the day seemed less terrible. She started the day finding out how much Juleka cared for her. She was on the same team as Nino this year. She’d met Alya and Adrien. They both seemed nice. Alya was so great. She didn’t die on that ladder.

As she washed her hair, Marinette imagined she washed away all of the day’s negativity. It spiraled down the drains with the water and suds.

Could she really live with Chloe for a year? She couldn’t if everything stayed like this. Something--someone?-- needed to change and probably wouldn’t be Chloe. She turned off the water. She needed to change. She wrapped a towel around her body. She needed to become durable and flexible like her metal wire. She got out of the shower, wrapping her hair as she made her way to the counter.

It was nice to think that she could change, but how could she ever do that?

The scent of her lotion was “cupcakes”. It was actually just vanilla, but each scent had a fun dessert based name. The lotion had stars sprinkled through it and it looked like frosting. Her mother sent it to her in a dessert-themed skincare set. Marinette smiled. Whenever she used it she was reminded of home. She put on her pajamas. They were warm and soft.

She reached for her utility belt. Her fingers grazed the surface of the book. She took the book out and opened it. Tikki appeared.

“Don’t freak out!”

Marinette laughed and sat the book on the counter.

“Sorry about earlier.”

“It’s okay, it wasn’t the worst reaction I’ve ever gotten.” Tikki flew close to Marinette. “Are you okay? Chloe really is a menace!”

“I’m okay.”

“She shouldn’t boss people around just because she can! That’s villainous.”

“Isn’t it?” Marinette sat on the counter and started fixing her hair. “You might believe it, but Chloe’s just the tip of the iceberg. The upperclassman are ridiculous! ‘We all came here because we love magic, so why do we lose our hearts?’ She used to say that.”

Marinette spotted Adrien in the mirror. She looked at Tikki. Tikki was gone. She shut the book.

“Sorry!” Adrien stumbled back, “I didn’t know anyone was in here.”

Marinette jumped off the counter. She slipped. Adrien caught her. She thanked him and stood up.

“Who used to say that?” Adrien looked at the floor. “The thing about the hearts.”

“Nobody you’d know.” It came out harsher than it was intended. “She doesn’t go here anymore.”

“Oh,” Adrien kept his eyes down, “sorry.”

Marinette shook her head.

“These showers are for everyone.” Marinette packed up her stuff. She looked at Adrien. Their eyes locked. His eyes were pools of sadness. Marinette wanted to run over and hug him. He looked away. Maybe Chloe had been honest about Adrien’s eye contact anxiety.

“Hey, Marinette,” Adrien focused his eyes on her, “is Chloe a bully?”

The dinner bell rung.

“She is a bully and an all-around bad person.”

“Oh, I see.”

“But she does seem to care about you, so maybe she’s got a heart in there somewhere.”

Marinette offered her hand. Adrien stared at her.

“Let’s go eat!” Marinette smiled. “I don’t want to miss all the good food.”

Adrien took her hand. They walked to the dining hall together. Marinette held his hand until they arrived. There was something about him, something small and sad that she wanted to protect.


	10. Legends

Alya and Nino were sitting at a table when Marinette arrive with Adrien. They were playing cards before Alya noticed the two and waved them over. They’d already gotten food for Adrien and Marinette. Marinette sat across from Alya and next to Nino.

Nino leaned towards Marinette. “Your new best friend cheats at cards.”

“What he means is, your old best friend sucks at cards,” Alya grinned as she put her cards away. Nino stuck out his tongue. Alya did too. “Anyway,” Alya pulled out her notepad, “what are the ‘Legends of Sunstone Academy?’”

“Oh!” Marinette clapped her hands together, grabbing everyone’s attention, “They’re supposed to be these fairies that protect the school and the whole magic realm.”

“Really?” Alya scribbled on her pad, “what else?”

“They aren’t real,” Nino rolled his eyes.

“They are real,” Rose plopped down on the other side of Nino, “Juleka said she saw the Black Mage last semester!”

Juleka nodded. Marinette remembered the night that Juleka had run in and told her that story. They’d both been so excited that they went out looking for him the next night, but they didn’t find anything.

“The Black Mage?” Alya wrote something then underlined it, “what’s that?”

“He’s a handsome hero type,” Rose put her face in her hands and sighed.

“He’s one of the legends,” Nino took a forkful of pasta and ate it. “There’s the Black Mage, the Red Mage, and other assorted colors.

“Wait,” Alya flipped a page, “are they fairies or mages?”

“Both,” Juleka sat down next to Rose.

“If you believe in that type of thing,” Nino leaned on one hand and pushed around his pasta with the other.

“You don’t?” Adrien tilted his head. “This is a school for magic.”

“I know right,” Rose poke Nino, “he’s no fun!”

“Look, I don’t doubt that Juleka saw some guy running around in leather and cat ears, but that could have been any random weirdo.”

“Still jealous of the Black Mage, Nino?” Alix plopped down next to Alya.

“I’m not jealous!” Nino took a bite of his garlic bread, “He’s not real. And what would I even be jealous about anyway?”

“Oh, I wish he’d come steal me away!” Rose stood up and did a dainty spin with her hands in front of her, “I bet he’s handsome and charming and kind! Don’t you think so, Marinette?”

Rose draped herself over Marinette’s shoulders. All eyes landed on Marinette. Even Alya looked up from her writing.

“I have heard he’s charming,” Marinette put her hands on her cheeks, “and his voice is like a melody!”

“Marinette!” Nino narrowed his eyes at her.

“I did hear that!” Marinette jumped up, “from a friend who heard it from a friend.”

Rose grinned at Nino, her arms still on Marinette’s shoulders.

“It’s not like I’m saying I would date him,” Marinette gestured with her fork, “I’m just saying I wouldn’t mind if he came in and stole me away.”

“Me too!” Rose chimed.

Nino put his hands over his face and sighed.

“I heard the Red Mage is a total babe!” Kim sat down next to Adrien, “Like a goddess or something.”

Nino looked up at Kim then shook his head.

“A babe, huh?” Alya scribbled it down.

Soon their class gathered around sharing their opinions and stories about the legends.

“What nonsense!” Chloe cut in, “of course they aren’t real!”

Nino looked at Chloe and blinked.

“Oh, great,” Nino sighed, “they must be real.”

Chloe gasped. She looked offended. Marinette held in her laugh.

The conversation died down as the principal took the stage. He wanted all the first years to know the rules and regulations. He stressed the importance of authorized Magic Battles and only using magic when necessary. He didn’t get through all the rules before dinner ended.


	11. Harassment

It was dark outside and in the hallways. At this point, everyone should be asleep. Adrien threw off his blankets and climbed out of bed. He couldn’t see anything. He didn’t want to turn on the lights. The lights might wake up Nino. Adrien reached under his bed for his shower basket. He had placed it near the edge so he could grab it quickly and get going.

He could not find it.

“Adrien, what are you doing?” Nino's voice was groggy. “It’s like four in the morning.”

The lamp switched on, stinging Adrien’s eyes. When his vision returned, he saw his basket a couple of inches from his hand. He looked over at Nino. Nino was looking at his alarm clock.

“Sorry, I was going to take a shower,” Adrien fiddled with his basket, “I didn’t take one last night so I thought I could take one this morning.”

“But it’s four.”

“I didn’t want anyone to see me or to see any girls… You know, without clothes on.”

Nino blinked. Adrien looked down. He probably seemed like a dork. Nino sat down the clock.

“You’ve never been in a co-ed shower before?”

“I’ve never showered with anyone before! I was homeschooled. I had my own bathroom.” Adrien’s ears were hot. “Where do you even look when you shower with other people?”

“What do you mean where do you look?” Nino sat up. “You just don’t stare at people. That shouldn’t be a problem for you, right?”

Adrien wasn’t sure how to respond. It wasn’t like he was planning on staring at people. It was just weird to be naked around a bunch of other people.

“Alright, let’s go,” Nino got out of bed, “I’ll make sure nobody walks in on you.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

They walked down the hall. Nino led Adrien to the showers.

“Be quick.” Nino leaned against the wall by the entrance. Adrien nodded then went inside. Nino shook his head. It was too early to be up. He watched the sun rise through the hallway windows. It was pretty.

Black and green blurred past the windows. Nino blinked. That was weird. Could it have been…? Nino shook his head. Whatever it was, it was probably long gone.

“Nino, you’re up early,” Alya walked up to him, yawning. 

Her hair was pulled into a sloppy ponytail. Her eyes were droopy and unalert. Nino put an arm in front of her before she could make it through the doorway to the showers. She stumbled back. She glared at him. 

“What the--”

“How’d you sleep, teammate?”

“Sleep?” She stretched and released another yawn. “Who could sleep with all the excitement?”

“You didn’t sleep?”

“I don’t sleep most days. I just need a hot shower to wake me up.” Alya gestured to the doorway. She looked at Nino’s arm, then at Nino when his arm didn’t move. Nino tilted his head in her direction. “So, if you could move your arm that would be great.”

“Yea, right, about that.”

“What?”

“Hmm…”

“Nino,” Alya narrowed his eyes at him, “Move!”

“Hey, Alya?”

“What?”

“Before you came here, where did you go to school?”

Alya took a step back. “I went to the Academy of None of Your Business.”

“You ask way too many questions to have gone there.”

“Ha ha.” Alya ducked under Nino’s arm. Nino snagged the strap of her tank top.

“Hey!”

“Don’t go in there,” he pulled her out.

“Why not?” She snatched away from him.

“Again with the questions.” Nino sighed. “It’s a secret.”

“A secret?” Alya perked up. “What kind of secret?”

“The kind I can’ tell you.”

What was taking Adrien so long? He probably couldn’t hold off Aya much longer before this was considered harassment. Or was he already harassing her?

“I’ll go see for myself then,” Alya walked forward. Nino stepped in front of her.

“You are persistent aren’t you?” Nino crossed his arms. “Actually, Alya, you remind me of somebody.”

“Yourself?”

“No, the main character of my album.”

“Oh, that thing you were playing for Marinette and Adrien yesterday?”

“Yea,” Nino pulled out his music player, “want to hear it?”

Alya tilted her head to the side. Her hair was fluffy and looked kind of like a tail. “Can I?”

“Yea.” Nino offered it to her.

Alya put the headphones on.

“I’m done,” Adrien poked his head through the doorway. “Oh, good morning Alya.”

“Morning, Adrien,” She took off the headphones. 

She looked at Nino and raised an eyebrow. Nino shrugged and moved out of her way. Alya walked forward but stopped at the doorway.

“I forgot my shower basket.” Alya turned away and went back to her room.


	12. Trust

For the whole first week of school, all the classes centered around building trust and dynamics within teams. Of course after two years together most people already formed dynamics, but it was still one of Marinette’s favorite weeks of school. Plus it would be Alya and Adrien’s first time doing the exercises.

Marinette walked beside Nino on the way to class. Alya and Adrien trailed behind them having a discussion of their own. As they neared the classroom, Chloe’s voice reached their ears. She wanted to be excused from the trust exercises.

“I hate these ridiculous ‘teambuilding weeks!’ I don’t need these people. And I definitely don’t trust them!”

Alix and Max crossed their arms and looked at each other. Sabrina and Kim looked surprised.

“Not even me?” Sabrina sounded desperate.

“Especially not you!” Chloe flipped her hair. “Everyone knows you’re jealous of me.”

“Envious,” Sabrina’s voice was quiet.

“Sabrina’s not envious of you,” Niono leaned on Marinette, “If anything she’s envious of me and Rose for finally escaping your clutches. Or at least that’s how I felt about Nathaniel and Ivan last year.”

“Yea, well at least I’m real, Nino,” Chloe crossed her arms, “unlike the guy you're jealous of.”

“Isn’t that unfortunate,” Nino put his chin on Marinette’s head. Marinette covered her mouth to hide her smile. Nino was in a mood today. He must’ve woken up too early.

“As unfortunate as your fashion sense,” Chloe turned her head, whipping her ponytail.

“Only topped by the fact that I’m forced to hear your voice every day.”

“You know what, Nino?”

“What, Chloe?”

“It’s no surprise girls prefer an imaginary guy to you!”

“At least I don’t have to force them to come to me with magic.”

“Excuse me?”

“That is enough,” the teacher walked between them. “As everyone can see despite the fact that Nino and Chloe spent a whole year on a team together, they do not trust and respect each other. This is the reason team building is important and the reason Chloe will not be skipping it this year.”

“My father will hear about this!” Chloe marched out. Sabrina moved to follow her. Nino stopped her.

“That wasn’t necessary, Nino,” Sabrina frowned at him. Nino reached out and patted her head. Sabrina didn’t resist.  She smiled. Her eyes met with Marinette’s. She jumped away from Nino. “Anyway, I’ll go get Chloe!”

A few minutes later, the two of them returned to their group. The trust-building started. The first one involved leading a blindfolded teammate through an obstacle course. Alya and Adrien teamed up. Nino led Marinette through the course. He gave her careful instructions. They managed to get through it without Marinette tripping or crashing. Nino congratulated her. They switched places. Though Marinette started off a bit flustered, she was able to direct Nino through the course.

The next day was the trust fall. Nino and Adrien went last.

“Wow,” Nino stood Adrien up, “you’re pretty lightweight, huh?”

Adrien's face went red.

“I’m not!” Adrien waved his arms around. Nino laughed. “Don’t laugh!”

“Sorry, Nino was still laughing, “that was kind of cute.”

Adrien covered his face, “Don’t say that.”

“Why? It was cute and your not really helping your case.”

Adrien struggled to answer, but when he couldn’t manage to form a sentence, he crouched down and hid his face in his knees.

“Nino!” Marinette shoved him, “be nice!”

“I’m always nice.”

Marinette led Adrien away.

The next day, Marinette was paired with Adrien for eye contact exercises. They had to keep restarting because Adrien looked away every few seconds.

Over the course of the week, they did increasing difficult exercises with every possible combination. Marinette could feel the group and dynamic pulling together. There was some friction between Nino and Alya, but nothing that cause any trouble. They all seemed to get along. Marinette was looking forward to a year of working with MANA.


	13. Outing

****It was early when Chloe crashed into their room.

“Adrihoney! It’s time for our outing!”

Adrien sat up and rubbed his eyes. Nino shoved his head under a pillow and pressed it over his ears. Adrien signaled to Chloe to be quiet. He put his index finger over his mouth then gestured towards Nino.

“What?” Chloe’s voice was louder, “I have absolutely no idea what you are doing with your hands!”

Adrien jumped out of bed. He rushed to Chloe and led her out of the room. After a quick shower and getting dressed,  they headed out.

Chloe linked arms with Adrien as she toured him around the city. Adrien looked at Sunstone City in awe. He’d never seen a magic city before and wasn’t sure of the expectations he should have. There were plants everywhere. There were plants on sidewalks, on buildings, and on people. The sidewalks were paths made with stones of varying shapes and sizes. There weren’t streets, there was only rich soil where streets were expected. The people on the streets didn’t ride cars, they rode animals or spells.

Despite all that, it still looked like a city. There were tall building reaching for the sky and signs to direct the tons of people filling the paths. The people were a wave of colors. As Adrien watched people pass he noticed a clear style divide. Every person fell on one of two styles: traditional and casual. The traditional style leaned into the history of magic. They wore robes, capes, and cloaks. They carried around wands, staves, or spellbooks. The casual style was nothing different than the clothes anybody else around the world wore. There were t-shirts, blue jeans, and sundresses. They usually had on backpacks or carried large bags. Their classmates and professors had the same exact split. Alya, Sabrina, Max, Juleka, Mylene, and Nathaniel all wore traditional clothing, while Nino, Adrien, Alix, Kim, Ivan and Rose all wore casual clothing.

There were only two exceptions. Chloe and Marinette both wore clothes that fell somewhere in-between the two. Marinette’s robe was shaped like a trenchcoat. Chloe’s looked like a sleek jacket. Marinette kept all her magic tools on a utility belt. Chloe’s were held in the coattail of her robe.

“Chloe, where’d you get your mage clothes?”

“Daddy had it made for me.” Chloe did a small twirl to show off her robe. “He hired one of the world’s best designers to put it together. It wasn’t your father though. He was too ‘busy’.” She made the air quotes with her fingers.

“What about Marinette?”

“What about her?”

“Where did she get hers?”

Chloe stopped walking. She looked at Adrien and narrowed her eyes.

“Why do you care?”

“I was just curious because I’ve never seen a robe like hers--or yours--before.”

“She made the dingy thing.” Chloe started walking again.

“She made that? She’s amazing!”

Chloe didn’t respond. She seemed to be in a sour mood after that. Adrien felt the urge to apologize, but decided against it. He wasn’t sure of the reason he’d be apologizing and an empty apology wouldn’t make things better.

“So,” Adrien broke the silence, “Where are we heading?”

Chloe looked at him, “We’re getting you a pair of boots. There's this absolutely ancient cobbler guy in the fashion district that makes amazing boots.” She gestured to her white knee-high boots.

“Why boots?”

“Honestly, Adrien, what were you learning at home?” She shook her head, “Every serious mage needs a good pair of boots. Sneakers are fine for prancing around campus, but for big kid magic, you’ll need a sturdy pair of boots. Plus, everyone looks better in boots.”

Adrien thought about everyone he’d met at Sunstone Academy. Everyone except him and Alya wore boots during school hours. He hadn’t thought much of it, but even Felix had a sturdy looking pair of boots. Adrien looked down at his shoes. They were a pair of orange sneakers from his father’s shoe line. Everything Adrien wore was designed by his father much like his life. Replacing the shoes his father had designed with something else, the very thought of it made him feel less trapped.

As Chloe walked Adrien through the fashion district, she pointed to stores she liked. The shops had the same split between traditional and casual. The shops were tall and brightly colored with large display windows.  At the end of the street, stood a short grey building with small windows. They stopped there. Adrien couldn’t even imagine Chloe standing near the building and yet she walked through the door. Adrien followed.

The inside of the cobbler’s shop was small and cluttered. There were shreds of leather and other materials Adrien couldn’t quite pinpoint. Adrien tried not to step on anything, but Chloe marched through trampling everything in her path. She stopped at the counter.

“Hey, Old Man!” Chloe rung the bell, “are you here?”

After a moment of silence, a tall old man appeared at the counter. He was pale with a green tint to his skin. He looked at Chloe.

“What do you need, Miss Bourgeois?”

“Where’s the other one,” Chloe moved her hands close together, “the small one.”

“The master is busy.”

Chloe frowned. She crossed her arms. The two stared at each other for seconds? Minutes? Hours? Adrien wasn’t sure, but it was intense. Chloe sighed.

“Fine, I suppose you’ll do.” She gestured for Adrien to come closer. Adrien walked over, trying to do as little damage as possible. “My friend needs a new pair of boots.”

The old man took Adrien’s measurements. While Adrien had expected his feet to be measured, he hadn’t expected the man to take his height and weight, too. After he was done, he told Adrien the boots would be ready in two months. Chloe gasped. She demanded to know the reason it would take so long. He told her they had a lot of orders to fulfill, especially because it was the beginning of the school year. The waiting list was long.

“If they are finished before that, I will contact you. Until then stay out of magic battles.” He hesitated. “Or go barefoot that usually works.”

Chloe glared at him and balled up her fists. Adrien braced himself for her yelling. After a few moments of silence, he looked over at her. Her face was red. Her expression was twisted with anger.

“Do you have something to say, Miss Bourgeois?”

Chloe opened her mouth but snapped it shut so fast her teeth clinked. She grabbed Adrien's arm and dragged him out. Once they were a good distance from the shop, Chloe crouched down.

“I hate that guy,” Chloe grabbed her knees.

“Is he that bad?” Adrien crouched down so they were on the same eye level.

“The worst!” Chloe stood up. “Oh, well, let’s go get lunch.”

Chloe had arranged lunch at a very pretty and pretty exclusive magic club. They were seated on the balcony which stood high above the streets of Sunstone City. Adrien switched between watching people in the streets and the mages in the restaurant.

Chloe looked off into the distance. She seemed to be eyeing the school’s clock tower. Sunstone Academy was seated on the tallest hill in the city. They had to ride a lift to get up to the school and down to the city.

Chloe finished her third ice cream sundae and pushed the cup aside. She hadn’t actually ordered any lunch before the ice cream, but she said it was one of the perks of not having parents around. Adrien ordered the day’s special which was a stew full of vegetables and herbs.

“Adrien,” Chloe didn’t take her eyes off the tower, “Do you think I’m a bad person?”

Adrien choked on his stew. Chloe flicked her fingers and a magic hand assisted him. When he could breathe again, he brought his eyes to Chloe.

“A bad person?”

She looked at him. “A bad person.”

“Why do you ask?”

She looked back to the tower, “No reason.”

“I don’t know,” Adrien looked down at his stew. “You’re my friend and I love you, but…”

Adrien couldn’t really think she was a good person. He’d heard “bully” applied to her several times. All her classmates seemed to fear her, hate her, or some combination of the two. He seemed to be the only one who genuinely liked Chloe, but if they hadn’t already been friends when he got to Sunstone Academy he doubted he would like her.

“You treat people like they don’t matter in relation to you. I wouldn’t call you ‘bad’, but I wouldn’t call you ‘good’ either.” Adrien stirred his stew and watched the potatoes swirl around. “If I had to label you…” Adrien scooped the stew up and watched it drip back into the bowl. “I guess I’d say your strong-willed, opinionated, and cunning, but you’re also self-centered and mean-spirited.”

Chloe didn’t respond. Adrien brought his eyes up to her, expecting a glare in return. She wasn’t glaring. She wasn’t even looking at him.

“Adrien, do you like being my friend?”

Adrien wasn’t sure how to respond. He’d never thought about if he _liked_ being Chloe’s friend, they just were.

“I see,” Chloe stood up, “Finish eating. I’ll be waiting outside.”

“Where are we going after this?”

“Home,” Chloe pinched her nose and closed her eyes, “I have a headache and I would like to rest.”

She walked out.

When they arrived back on campus, Chloe went straight to the showers.


	14. Junk

Nino walked out of the showers with a towel over his head. His head was pounding. It was probably because of Chloe’s loud intrusion. He stopped by Marinette’s door on the way to his room. He peeked inside. Marinette was on the floor with her sketchbook balanced on her knees. Sabrina was at a desk, probably doing Chloe’s homework. One of the beds had a large pile of junk on it.

“What’s all that?”

The two looked at Nino. Marinette jumped up.

“Hey, Nino!” She ran up and hugged him, “how are you today?”

“My head is killing me.”

Marinette frowned and put a hand to his forehead.

“Get a room!” Alya came out of her room. “You two make single people feel bad!”

“Single people?” Nino and Marinette tilted their heads toward her.

Instead of elaborating, Alya gestured towards the bed. “What’s that junk?”

“Oh,” Marinette buried her face in Nino’s shirt and muttered into it. He heard ‘Chloe’, but not much else.

“What?” Alya pulled Marinette away from Nino. “I couldn’t understand you.”

“Oh, well, what I said was: Chloe kind of claimed my bed and is using it for extra storage.”

“Excuse me?” Alya marched into the room. “What is her damage?” She stopped at the bed and looked at Marinette. “She’s not here right now, right?”

Marinette nodded. “She took Adrien out.”

“Then let’s get rid of this stuff,” Alya plucked a hair dryer out of the pile.

“Don’t touch that,” Sabrina snatched the hair dryer from Alya, “Chloe hates when people touch her stuff.” She put it back in the pile.

“Really, Sabrina?” Alya crossed her arms. “She has no right to do this.”

“Take that up with her.”

“Right,” Alya walked out, taking Marinette and Nino with her. When they entered Nino’s room, Alya stopped and closed the door. “Sabrina is going down. Today we liberate Marinette’s bed!”

“So,” Nino looked at Marinette, “where have you been sleeping?”

Marinette frowned and looked at her feet, “On the floor.”

Nino pulled her into a hug. She laughed as he nuzzled his face against hers.

“You could have slept in here.”

“Shut up! No, I couldn’t have,” Marinette nudged him. She pulled away from the hug, her cheeks tinted red. She sat on Adrien’s bed. Nino plopped onto his own bed.

“Focus people,” Alya groaned, “We need to take down Sabrina, remember?”

“That would be a magic battle,” Nino sat up, “we’d need a supervisor.”

There were three knocks on the door.

“It’s open!”

Felix popped in, “I have a delivery for Adrien.”

“He’s out with Chloe,” Nino walked over to Felix.

“I see,” Felix handed the box to Nino, “please give this to him.”

“Aye, aye, captain,” Nino sat the box on his desk.

“Marinette,” Felix looked over at her, “I was on my way to see you. I talked to the principal about you and Chloe.”

“And?” Marinette jumped up.

“He said, ‘No’,” Felix looked down, “I do apologize, I know you were hoping for good news. If there’s anything I could do to make it up to you, please let me know.”

“Oh, well, thanks,” Marinette frowned. She looked over at Alya and Nino. She perked up, “Oh, actually there is one thing you could do!”

Marinette, Nino, and Alya walked to Marinette’s room. Felix followed closely behind them. Sabrina lounged on Chloe’s bed with a book in her hand. Marinette ran into the room and dived towards Sabrina. Sabrina jumped up and cast a spell. Marinette struggled to get to the ground but ended up pressed against the ceiling. 

Alya entered next. She threw a card at Sabrina. As the card made contact, a bubble engulfed Sabrina. Marinette fell. She hit the bubble. It shattered. Sabrina cast another spell. The room flooded with white light. When the light died down, Sabrina was wrapped in wire.

Marinette threw the spool to Nino. Alya tossed another card at Sabrina. Sabrina floated up like a balloon. Nino and Alya led Sabrina out.

“That was pretty easy,” Alya put her cards away.  

The wire was lighter. Nino looked up. Sabrina was gone. Nino hit the ground. Sabrina stood on his back. She put one foot on his head and pressed down to restrain him. Alya fumbled. Her cards hit the floor. Sabrina cast another spell. Alya screamed. Her voice grew distant until there was a soft thud.

“Do not move,” Sabrina’s voice was firm, “I’ll hit you with a lightning bolt if you even--Aaaah!”

Sabrina hit the ground. Nino jumped up. Sabrina rolled around, clawing at her robe and screaming for ‘them’ to get off. There was nothing on her. A couple feet behind her stood Rose. Her palm was facing Sabrina, her eyes were shut. She opened her eyes and put her hand down. Sabrina went silent.

“Are you okay, Nino?”

Nino nodded.

Sabrina jumped up, red in the face. “That will not work a second time!”

“I don’t need it to,” Rose put her hands up. Her palms aimed at Sabrina. Nino aimed his mp3 at Sabrina like a gun. They were still. Someone needed to make the first move. When they were a team, Chloe was always the first to jump into the brawl.

Nino shot a sound wave at Sabrina. She lost her footing. Rose brought her hands together. Vines shot from Rose’s pockets and encased Sabrina. The vine cocoon hit the floor, squirming.

Nino and Rose smiled at each other. The vines shriveled. Sabrina looked just as surprised as they did.

Rose tumbled down the hall. Alix appeared where Rose had been. She scooped Sabrina up. Nino braced himself. Alix smirked. Before she made contact, a large cheetah intercepted her. She hit the ground but didn’t release Sabrina. The cheetah took the human form of Mylene.

Sabrina scrambled to her feet. She dashed towards Marinette’s room. Nino jumped at her but slammed face first into a barrier. Nino rubbed his face. This complicated things. If there was a barrier up, then Max was near. Nino closed his eyes. He sent out vibrations and found the barriers weakest point. He focused his magic into the bottom of his sock. The material didn’t hold the magic well. Every Time he felt like he had enough the magic escaped. He kicked the barrier. He felt the barrier shake, but it was still there.

Sabrina dragged Marinette out of the room. Ivan barreled through, smashing the barrier and scooping up Sabrina. Nino moved towards Marinette. Alix jumped in front of him. She smirked and cracked her knuckles. Nino frowned. It was going to be a long day.

Soon their whole class was in the hallway fighting. Felix watched the whole fight from behind a barrier. Nobody could keep up with who was on which side. One moment two people were side by side and the next they were against each other. Nino felt like a target. Everyone seemed to want a piece of him. Even Alya got a few whacks in.

Marinette scrambled down the hall. “Wait a Minute!” Her voice was loud enough that everyone stopped and looked at her. “Do you all know what we’re fighting about?”

Marinette explained the problem with her room. After a few moments, Alix held Sabrina back as everyone helped Marinette clean off her bed.

When Adrien got back from his outing, Nino was sitting at his desk.

“Felix left a box for you,” Nino gestured to a box on Adrien’s desk.

Adrien opened the box. Nino sat his head on Adrien's shoulder to look at the box.  A card sat on top of tissue paper. 

It read: “Boots. - Felix” 

Under the tissue paper was a pair of boots.

“Cool,” Nino lifted a boot out of Adrien’s hand. Adrien swallowed. Nino realized there were only centimeters between them. Nino took a step back. Adrien turned his head to look at Nino. 

“What happened to your face?” Adrien turned to Nino. Nino touched his face. It was bruised and bandaged.

“Well, it all started with an innocent attempt to jump Sabrina…”

Nino told Adrien about his day. As he told the story, he did he best to catch Adrien up on two years worth of relationships that decided alliances.

Chloe screamed. Nino and Adrien went to the doorway. Chloe was standing outside of her room. She was wearing a bathrobe. Marinette wasn’t far from her. Everyone was watching from their doorways.

“Didn’t I tell you not to touch my stuff?”

Marinette responded, but her voice was too soft to hear. Chloe opened her mouth. She looked at Adrien. She froze. The only sound in the hall was breathing. Chloe screamed. Everyone jumped. She stomped into her room and slammed the door.


	15. Guardian

Marinette sat on the bathroom counter as Tikki went over the responsibilities of having the Book of Creation for what seemed to be the thousandth time. Even though Marinette told Tikki she understood, Tikki often slipped into the speech. Being the Guardian of the Book of Creation mostly meant Marinette needed to keep the ancient magic a secret and keep the book out of the “wrong hands.” It also meant Marinette was allowed to learn the book’s magic.

“That’s neat,” Marinette leaned forward.

“Well, I suppose so,” Tikki landed on Marinette’s lap, “but it is a big responsibility. You’ll be the Guardian of Creation. When the other guardian’s look to you, you’ll be their leader. It will all be on your shoulders.”

“Am I the right person for this?”

“Of course you are! I wouldn’t be here if you weren’t.”

“Right,” Marinette leafed through the book, “It just seems like you don’t want me.”

“No, that’s not it at all!”

“Then why are you trying to scare me away?”

“I’m not,” Tikki flew up so she was looking Marinette in the eyes, “I just need to make sure you understand this won’t be easy. The last guardian couldn’t handle it. She had a complete breakdown. I don’t want to see that happen to you, Marinette.”

Marinette was quiet for a moment.

“I understand.”

“Good,” Tikki flew a few feet away, “are you ready to start learning, then?”

“Learning?”

“If you’re going to become a proper guardian then you’ll need to learn all the spells in the book.”

“I can’t even read it.”

“That is the reason I’m here,” Tikki flipped the book to the first page. “First, you’ll need to learn to see and channel magic. You’ll need to learn every spell on this page.”

Marinette worked with Tikki for hours. They alternated between meditation, proper pronunciation of the language of the Fae, and channeling magic to specific body parts. Marinette couldn’t focus long enough to “see” magic, the language of the Fae tumbled off her tongue, and channeling magic into the tips of her fingers proved more difficult than it sounded.

“You’ll get it next time,” Tikki patted Marinette on the head after her most recent attempt.

“Doubt it.”

Adrien walked in as Marinette was packing up. She checked the time. It was four in the morning. Adrien jumped when he saw her.

“Marinette, you’re up early.”

“I’m up late,” she yawned, “you’re up early.”

“Right.”

“Is this the reason you no one has seen you in the shower these last two weeks?”

Adrien nodded. Marinette sat on the counter then patted the spot next to her. Adrien climbed onto the counter. He looked down at his hands.

“So, how are you adjusting besides the shower thing?”

Adrien shrugged. Marinette frowned. She tried to think of something to say. Nino had told her that Adrien was homeschooled, so he wasn’t used to the whole school experience. She reached out to pet him but stopped. Nino had also told her that Adrien was not very comfortable with physical contact, so to be careful about that.

“I shouldn’t have come here,” Adrien closed his eyes and leaned his head against the mirror, “I don’t fit in, I’m barely keeping up in class, and causing problems for Nino. In all honesty, I just wanted to make my dad pay attention to me, by applying without his permission. I never thought I’d actually get in.”

“When I first started going here,” Marinette picked up her spool of wire and played with it, “I didn’t know anything about magic.”

Adrien looked at her.

“I was so nervous because I was surrounded by all these people who had been studying for years and I had decided to start on a whim. It seemed like everyone was so sophisticated and prepared. I thought I would never fit in. I didn’t have a robe and I had my mom’s old boots from her short time in magic school-- I was a shivering mess. I almost quit before we even got assigned roommates.”

Marinette exited the living area. She needed to catch a lift and then get back home as soon as possible. All her classmates were leagues above her! Of course, they didn’t want her ridiculous macarons. Why had she even thought she could do this? She didn’t even realize she was running until something grabbed her from behind. She fell on her butt.

“Whoa, there kiddo, the living area is that way.”

Marinette looked behind her. The girl standing there had her long hair tied into pigtails. She smiled down at Marinette. It was warm and comforting.

“Whoa! Whoa! Don’t cry!” She stood Marinette up, “I didn’t mean to scare you. You were just going so fast--”

Marinette burst into a fit of sobs.

The girl hugged her. “There, there, let it out.”

She patted Marinette’s bun until she was calm.

“I can’t do this,” Marinette pulled away from her.

“Do what?”

“Magic.”

“Of course you can, silly, anyone can do magic.”

Marinette wiped the tears off her face. “But I’ve never done it before. I just won this from a design contest and thought it would be fun to try.” Marinette held up her endless spool of wire. It was the only magical item she owned.

“That’s okay,” the girl patted Marinette’s head, “you’ll do fine. You’ll do more than you ever thought you could.”

“Are you an angel?”

“No,” she laughed, “I’m Bridgette. I’m the student body president and I’ve just decided that you’ll be the first underclassman to participate in my mentorship program.”

“Really, me?”

Bridgette nodded.

“Hey!” A young boy with glasses and a pair of headphones came running up to the two. He shoved an empty box in Marinette’s hands. “Everyone liked your macarons! Even that awful girl tried one!”

“They did?” Marinette looked into the box, “they really liked them?”

He nodded.

“Yea, they did, so come back to school, okay?”

Marinette nodded. She held back her tears. Crying in front of Bridgette was one thing, but crying in front of her new classmate would be embarrassing.

“I’m Marnette,” she offered him her hand.

“I’m Nino,” He took her hand.

Bridgette ruffled Nino’s hair. “Well, you seem to have this under control, so I better head off.”

Bridgette dashed off. Nino led Marinette back to the living area, just on time to find out that they’d been assigned to the same team. That year, along with Alix and Mylene, they were team MAMN.

“So, don’t worry so much about fitting in,” Marinette made eye contact with Adrien. “Not only did you get the best possible roommate, we’re all here to help each other learn and grow.” She reached for his hand. Adrien allowed her to take it. “I don’t know your home situation, but I’m willing to listen.” She gave his hand a firm squeeze before releasing it and jumping off the counter.

She exited the bathroom. Nino was leaning against the wall by the door. He must have heard all of that. He smiled at her.

“The best possible roommate?”

Marinette rolled her eyes. Nino laughed. Marinette smiled at him.

Marinette made it to her room. She collapsed on her bed. There were still a few hours before class.


	16. Clocktower

Three weeks into the school year, Alya was done filing away all the information she’d gathered. Now she was bored. She stared at the screen of her laptop. There had to be something more to do. Nothing jumped into her head. It was late. Her roommate was asleep and her teammates probably were, too. Alya looked at her bed. Part of her wanted to climb into bed and sleep. She was too awake for that.

Alya slipped on a jacket and a pair of sneakers. It seemed like a good time for a walk. It might wear her out. She tiptoed across the room, down the hall, and out the front doors. The night air tickled her nose. It was colder than she expected. She picked a direction and walked that way. It was nice, the campus was once a mystery, but now it was home.

Alya looked up. She found herself in front of the clocktower. She found the door and entered. There were no elevators, just stairs. Alya started up them. She made sure not to lose her footing under the candlelight. There were more stairs than she originally thought there would be. They seemed to go up forever. She forced her sore, weak legs to keep moving.

She made it to the top.

The pain was forgotten as she ran to the rail and looked. She could see the entire campus. She could see the whole city. The sky was clear and bright. She took a deep breath of the fresh air. It chilled her throat and lungs. She took a step back to look at the clock and that’s when she noticed she wasn’t alone. The figure draped in black and green was sitting on the clock, looking down at her.

The figure landed in front of her. He was tall and lean with long fluid limbs. The green in his eyes glowed and lit up his silver hair. His mask covered the area around his eyes and a large chunk of the left side of his face. His cat-eared cloak draped off of him.

Alya blinked, but he was still there.

Her legs gave out.

She looked up at him from on the floor. He tilted his head. She couldn’t tell if he had a question or if he was studying her. Alya stood up. Her legs wobbled even when she commanded them not to. She toppled over. He caught her. Alya’s body felt like it wasn’t quite solid anymore. He stood her up. When he released her, she felt weak again, but she tried not to show it.

“Are you the Black Mage?”

He blinked then grinned at her. His grin was filled with mischief. Alya breath caught in her throat. She thought she fall over again. He put his hands on her shoulders. There weren’t words, but she could feel what he was trying to say. He wanted to know the reason she was there.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

He nodded. Another feeling came to her.

“No, I don’t think I have insomnia. I just have a terrible sleeping schedule.”

He scolded her and then released her. She didn’t feel weak this time.

“So--”

He put a gloved finger to her mouth. Alya froze. He gestured for her to come closer. Alya did. He put his hands out. Alya took them. He leaped into the air. He released Alya. She screamed. She was going to die! She landed in his arms. He was now holding her, bridal style and laughing. Alya glared at him.

“That wasn’t funny!”

He gestured for her to look the other way. She did. They were up even higher than before. Alya could only guess they were on top of the clocktower. The view was even better. Everything looked so beautiful. He stood her up next to him but kept a firm hand on her shoulder. She felt something. Sadness? She looked at him. He was staring out into the distance.

“Are you sad about something?”

He looked at her. He didn’t answer at first, but then he nodded.

“What’s wrong?”

The feeling she got was that something was ending and something--someone?-- was gone.

“You miss somebody?”

He nodded. The feeling of an end came back to her.

“Are you dying?”

He smiled, but his eyes were sad. He shook his head.

“But you are ending?”

He nodded.

“What? Why?”

A lot of feelings went through her as if he were flipping channels. Alya wasn’t sure of the emotions washing over her: sadness, frustration, guilt, love? 

“I don’t understand.”

An apologetic feeling washed over her. He released her.

“Sorry,” Alya looked at him, “I want to understand.”

He smiled and shook his head.

“Really!”

He reached out to her face but stopped before touching her.

Alya leaned in, “you can touch me.”

He cupped her face. The first feeling to come to her was regret. She knew that one well. It was strong, almost overwhelming. The anger burned under her skin. She hated everything, but especially herself. It was a quick flash and then it was gone. Sadness hit her like an ocean wave. Tears dripped from her eyes. Her heart hurt, everything hurt. Her heart pounded and warmth filled her stomach before spreading through her body. It was the strongest feeling. It was love. 

The emotions took shape. There was a girl, smiling at her. Her face wasn’t defined only the smile. The smile warped into a frown and she was crying. Then she turned away. She left. And as she walked away it hurt. It hurt so much.

Alya dropped to her knees, sobbing. She couldn’t form words--she tried so hard, but they wouldn’t form. 

He picked her up. She couldn’t stop crying, not as he leaped down from the tower, not as he jumped across campus, and not as they landed in front of the living area. He stood her up and wiped away her tears. Then he leaned in and kissed her forehead. 

The world went black.

Alya woke up. She was in her bed. The sun came through the window. She sat up. Was it all a dream? She wiped the slob off her face. She was wearing her jacket.


	17. Sleep

The skill tests were coming up as the end of the month approached. Every student was practicing or studying. Marinette was spending all of her spare time practicing with someone. If Nino wasn’t available then it was Alya, if Alya wasn’t available it was Adrien, if not Adrien then Juleka and so on and so on. Marinette was determined to improve as much as she could. She needed to be worthy of the Book of Creation. She needed to be worthy. The only person who never seemed to be practicing was Chloe. Even when SMACK was practicing Chloe was missing, though not Sabrina.

MANA got up early every morning and went to the training arena. Nino and Alya were about the same level when it came to skill. When they battled it was a fifty-fifty on who would win. Marinette ranked after them. She was the lowest ranked fighter in her class the previous year but scored high on "creative use of magic". She was right under Nathaniel and, this year, she would take him out. Adrien was well rounded in magic and knew how to fight, but when it came to putting the two skills together he froze up. It was like he was switching from mode to another, so even Marinette managed to beat him in every single battle they had. That’s the reason it surprised everyone when Alya fell over after one of Adrien’s spells.

She didn’t even attempt to get back up.

Marinette and Nino stopped sparring. Nino leaped off their platform to run over to Adrien and Alya. Marinette struggled to get down but made her way over.

“Alya!” Nino made it to her before Adrien who was frozen. He crouched down beside her. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” She sat up and pushed her bangs out of her face. “I just zoned out for a minute.”

“You haven’t been sleeping,” Nino stood up.

“I haven’t been tired.”

Nino offered his hand. Alya ignored it and stood up herself. She lost her balance. Marinette caught her.

“Are you sure you okay?” Marinette stood her back up.

“I said, I’m fine.”

“Let’s take a break,” Nino put his hand up showing five fingers, “everyone has been working really hard.”

Alya glared then marched over to the bench. Nino frowned and rubbed the back of his neck. He watched her until she sat down. He looked over at Adrien.

“Good job,” He gave Adrien a swift pat on the back, “You’ve improved a lot.”

“Thanks.”

Marinette walked over and sat next to Alya. Alya put her head on Marinette’s shoulder. Marinette held her hand.

“I think I’m losing my mind,” Alya sat up and ran her fingers through her hair.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Alya opened her mouth. Her eyes darted towards Nino and Adrien. She shut her mouth and shook her head. “Later tonight.”

“Yea, okay.”

After a bit more practice, MANA headed to class. Marinette made sure to take clean specific notes as the teacher went over the abilities they’d be tested on. Marinette wanted to memorize each category. She didn’t cast well under pressure and always resorted to her wire. She sighed. If only Bridgette was there to help her study.

As Marinette left the showers that night, Alya grabbed her. Without saying a word, she dragged Marinette outside. They stopped at the magic rod in front of the living area.

“I saw the Black Mage,” Alya pointed to the clocktower. “He was sitting up there. And he was so upset about this chick leaving him, then he kissed me on the forehead and I woke up in my bed. And I thought maybe it was a dream, but I was still wearing my outside clothes and everything.”

“When did this happen?”

“End of last week, beginning of this one,” Alya shook her head, “And I come back every night looking for him, but he’s not there. I think he might have ended!”

“Ended?”

“Well, he told me--well, not really told, but I felt it and he was ‘ending’. Whatever that’s supposed to mean. I’m freaking out Marinette!”

“That’s the reason you haven’t been sleeping.”

Alya looked down and nodded.

Marinette put her hands on Alya’s shoulders. “You have to sleep. If you’re meant to see him again then it will happen.”

“But--”

“Isn’t it a bit late for you two to be wandering around campus?” Felix walked up to them. “You’ll need to rest for the skill test.”

“We were just about to head back,” Marinette linked arms with Alya, “thanks for looking out for us.”

“‘Alya’ was it?”

“That’s me.”

“I’ve noticed you wandering around a lot these last few days? Is everything okay? Are you suffering from insomnia?”

“I’m fine, I just wanted to see something.” Alya looked up at the tower.

Felix patted her head. “Get some rest, okay?”

Alya hesitated. “Yea,” she tilted her head as she looked at Felix. “Okay.”

Marinette led her back to her room. Alya collapsed onto her bed and was asleep as soon as she hit the mattress. Marinette smiled. She tucked Alya in.

“Sweet dreams,” she gave Alya a kiss on the forehead.


	18. Macarons

The training area was empty except for the four of them. Like they had every morning for weeks, they arrived at the dark area and began turning on the lights. Marinette hit the last switch before returning to her team in the center of the room. Today was the day of the exam and with all the work they had done, Marinette still felt thoroughly unprepared. Maybe it was because she hadn’t managed to memorize a single one of Tikki’s spells or because despite her small win with her bed she still allowed Chloe to talk down to her. It could be because in every team she’d been in she was the weakest link. Or the fact that her type of magic was just silly tricks while her classmates were so well rounded.

The room was shrinking. She wasn’t ready. She dropped to her knees.

“Calm down,” Nino motioned at his teammates with his hands. “We’ll do fine.”

As much as Marinette wanted to believe him, she couldn’t breathe. There was still so much to cover. The only one who seemed calm was Nino and he rarely wasn’t. Nino crouched down next to Marinette and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Mari, I need you to calm down.” He gestured to Alya and Adrien with his head. Adrien was shaking and Alya was wringing her hair. “If we freak out, how are they supposed to stay calm?”

Marinette nodded her head. She took a few deep breaths. Marinette jumped to her feet and clapped her hands together. Adrien and Alya looked at her.

“Let’s bake!”

Marinette led the three from the training area to the kitchen. The living area was attached to the dining area which was attached to the kitchen. It’d been a while since she’d visited the kitchen. It was large, beautiful, and old. The appliances were the newest and most up to date, but the counters, cabinets, and tiles were hundreds of years old. 

Marinette walked to the corner of the kitchen. She crouched down. There was a spot with a loose tile. She lifted it and pulled out her box of recipes. She shuffled through the cards until she found her the recipe she was looking for. Back home, Marinette’s parents were always baking her things to cheer her up. Macarons had become almost a tradition for, particularly stressful days.

Marinette started to direct everyone in making macarons. Nino already knew where to begin because he used to help Bridgette and Marinette make them a few times. Alya seemed excited just to see the process, though she still helped. Adrien was careful as he did each task. Nino was explaining to Alya what certain ingredients did when Marinette noticed Adrien having some trouble with the mixer. He seemed confused. Well, he was related to Felix, so maybe he’d never touched one before.

“Need a little help?”

Adrien nodded. She put her hand over his and showed him how to turn on and hold the mixer without making a mess. He caught on quickly. Marinette released his hand. Next, she needed to check on Alya and Nino. Adrien caught her hand before she could get too far away. Marinette looked at him and tilted her head. Adrien released her hand.

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Adrien looked at his feet, “about you and Nino.”

“What about me and Nino?” Marinette found the piping bags and told Adrien to help her fill them up.

“You two seem close.”

“We are.”

“How close?”

Marinette tied a bag and picked up the next one.

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” Adrien filled up another bag, “are you two dating?”

The bag in Marinette’s hand burst open making a loud pop. Marinette yelped and stepped back. She slipped on something. She grabbed at the counter, but only ended up knocking over a bunch of things. She hit the floor. A bowl fell on her head. Her hands flew to her mouth. What kind of question was that? She and Nino dating? Did they seem like a couple?

She could hear her heart pounding in her ears.

She looked up at Adrien. He was frozen.

“We aren’t!” Marinette buried her face in her hands.

Nino lifted Marinette up and removed the bowl. “Are you okay?”

Marinette nodded. She didn’t look at him. He was still touching her. She removed herself from his grasp. Was that awkward? She looked up at Nino. He looked... confused?

“Aren’t what?” Alya was there now.

“Not dating,” Marinette’s voice a bit louder than it should have been.

Alya tilted her head. “Whose not dating?”

“Me and Nino.”

“You guys broke up?”

“We were never dating.”

There was silence.

“What? Really?” Alya looked to Nino for confirmation. He nodded. Alya ran her fingers through her hair. “Are you sure?’

“How would we not be sure?” Marinette hugged herself. She peeked over at Nino. He was picking up the stuff she’d knocked down. “You guys thought we were dating?”

Alya and Adrien shared a look before nodding. Nino reached for Marinette’s wrist. She jumped back. He froze. Marinette wanted to punch herself. Why did she react like that? Nino handed her a rag.

“Your hands are covered in batter.”

She looked down at her hands. They were caked in batter. Marinette wiped her hands the best she could on her way over to the sink. She turned on the water.

“You okay, Mari?” Nino was next to her.

“I’m fine.”

“We can stop if you want,” Nino put a hand on her shoulder, “I know you haven’t been here since Bridgette--”

“That’s not it,”  Marinette shrugged his hand off, “I’m just upset. Can’t I be upset without out it being connected to her?” Nino blinked. He rubbed his arm with his hand and looked down. She immediately felt guilty. “Sorry.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”

“Okay.” NIno leaned on the counter. Marinette peeked over at Nino. He smiled at her. She looked away. “So do you think you could help Alya with putting the cookies on the sheet? She’s not listening to me. She’s just doing whatever she wants.”

“Yea, I can do that.”

Marinette went over to Alya. She was making a mess. Marinette laughed. Alya looked up at her.

“Don’t laugh! Nino is a terrible teacher!”

Marinette shook her head. She helped Alya. Alya seemed distracted, like she had something to say. Marinette asked her about it. Alya denied having anything to talk about. They put the cookies in the oven. 

While the cookies were baking, Marinette showed them how to make the buttercream filling. When it was time to put the filling in, everyone was was having fun. They joked and laughed and nudged each other. Soon they had a large plate of macarons. Marinette couldn’t wait to hand them out to everyone. As she packed them in a box, she caught Adrien looking at her. He turned away and rushed off to help Nino wash dishes.

Nino brought over empty boxes to put the macarons in. He sat them on the counter next to Marinette. He reached out for her, but froze. He pulled his hand back. Marinette felt like she was stabbed in the heart.

“There’s icing on your face.” Nino tapped his own face in the location that the icing was on Marinette’s face.

“Oh,” Marinette rubbed her face with her palms, “did I get it?”

Nino nodded before heading back to the other side of the room. Marinette watched him go. She frowned. There was a nauseous feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“You ruin everything, Marinette.” She took a macaron off the plate and shoved it in her mouth.

  
  



	19. Exam

****It was cold in the room.

“Marinette! Close the window! Marinette!”

There was no response.

Chloe sat up and looked at the clock. It was five in the morning. She looked across the room Marinette was not in bed. Chloe rolled her eyes. Why did she want the bed so much when she never slept in it?

As Chloe made her way down the hall she could smell something baking. She peeked into the kitchen. Team MANA was making something. She frowned. She should be the one spending time with Adrien, not those losers. Adrien looked like he was having fun. He’d probably never done anything like that before.

Marinette and Nino were acting weird. Not that she cared, but they were a lot less handsy than usual. And what was up with everybody looking at Marinette whenever she wasn’t looking at them. Were they all love struck? It was really gross. Marinette was such a bother.

They finished packing up the cookies just as the bell rung. The four left out the other door, probably heading to the dining hall. Chloe met up with her team in the dining hall. She didn’t even bother tuning into the conversation they were having. It wasn’t important. Instead, she spotted MANA. They were giving those cookies out to all their classmates. Adrien came by and gave Chloe one, but he didn’t even look at her.

“Hello?” Chloe caught his arm before he got too far away.

“Oh, hey, Chloe, I didn’t see you.” He still wasn’t looking at her.

“Excuse me?”

“I just have a lot on my brain today…”

Chloe followed Adrien’s eyes to Marinette. She and Alya were talking about something in hushed tones. Alya had a hand on Marinette’s shoulder, but Marinette was looking somewhere else. Adrien noticed Chloe’s gaze.

“With testing and all!” He waved a hand in front of Chloe’s face. “That’s what I meant. Not anything weird.”

Chloe raised an eyebrow. She released Adrien’s arm. He beelined towards Marinette. Chloe rolled her eyes. She got up to walk around.

“Wait, Chloe,” it was Sabrina, “What about strategy?”

“Strategy? Just don’t get in my way and don’t bring me down!” She spun around and crashed into Nino. His box of cookies hit the ground. Only a few cookies fell out.

“Pleasant to see you as always, Chloe.”

“Shut up!”

Nino crouched down to pick up the cookies. Chloe watched him for a few moments. He was moving so slow!

“What in the world is wrong with you?”

“Like you care.”

“You’re right I don’t care! If you and Marinette are going to have a lover’s quarrel then keep it away from me!”

The chattering cut off. Their class stared at Chloe. Marinette hid her face. Nino stood up, holding the box of cookies.

“Even you noticed, huh?” Nino laughed. He covered his face with one hand. “This sucks.”

He sat the box on the table. Her teammates tried to talk to him, but he didn’t respond. He left the dining area. Rose chased after him. Chloe bit her lip. What was his problem anyway? Wasn’t it obvious that they were avoiding each other? It wasn’t like she’d pointed out some grand secret.

The first period was the ability test. Nino came in with Rose. He and Marinette did not sit next to each other. Of course, Chloe aced the test. Marinette did better than usual. In the last few weeks, Marinette did many things better than usual. Chloe frowned.

The second period was some kind of magic history quiz. Chloe didn’t bother taking it.

The third period was a team test. Each team had to get through an obstacle course. Chloe and her team aced it. MANA went last. They did okay. Marinette’s clumsiness did set them back a few times. She was so useless. Chloe rolled her eyes as she watched. When they crossed the finish line, they cheered. Adrien pulled Marinette into a hug. She hugged him back, before pulling away blushing. Adrien’s face was red, too.

Chloe snapped her pencil.

Marinette was really beginning to get on her nerves. She was already annoying. She was already pathetic. She was already the class’s weakest link. She already had everyone’s pity and all the affection that anyone could want, but now she wanted Adrien, too. It was so gross! Especially, the way she smiled at him and led him around by the hand like he was some lost child. And he just let her do it.

Marinette was going to be sorry for crossing Chloe Bourgeois.


	20. Tour

The sun wasn’t even up as Adrien made his way to Felix's room. Felix was an upperclassman, he was in his fifth year at Sunstone Academy, so he lived in a different building. There were different living areas for each group at the academy. There was the building for the underclassman, the upperclassmen, the faculty, and the alumni. All these areas were connected by the lobby.

The upperclassmen hallway was more personalized than Adrien’s hallway. The doors were painted different colors, some doors had welcome mats, and some had stickers. There were nameplates next to every door and under each nameplate was a whiteboard. The whiteboards were decorated with doodles and signatures in an array of colors. Felix’s was blank.

There were two markers hanging next to Felix's board: red and black... Adrien detached the black marker. He thought for a moment before starting his drawing. Adrien admired his cat doodle. He frowned. Felix probably wouldn’t appreciate it. Adrien pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket.

“Adrien.”

He spun around to face Felix. He was wearing a black tracksuit. He’d just returned from his morning run. Felix stared at Adrien’s drawing.

“Sorry,” Adrien fiddled with the lid of the marker, “I was just messing around.”

Felix smiled and patted Adrien on the head. He opened the door, letting Adrien in. Felix got Adrien settled in before heading to the showers. What were the upperclassmen showers like? Adrien pondered on the question for a little bit but was unable to commit to a single answer. He shrugged and started to look around Felix’s room. Felix’s room could fit three--maybe four of Adrien’s room in it. He had a kitchen and a small living room, though they weren’t physically separated from each other. 

Felix’s bed was huge. There wasn’t even a second bed. Where did his roommate sleep? There were no traces of a sleeping area for another person unless the two shared a bed! Adrien’s face got hot. That was ridiculous. This was Felix! Maybe he didn’t have a roommate. Adrien couldn’t remember seeing another name outside. That didn’t really make sense either. There should be an even number of upperclassmen since the school only accepted students in pairs.

Adrien stood up and started to wander. There wasn’t much to look at. The bed was neat. The desk and dresser were clear and free of dust. The point of interest was the bookshelf. The bookshelf was almost empty, but it had a couple of things on it.

There was a picture of Adrien and Felix sitting with their parents. Their mothers were twins and their fathers weren’t related but looked similar. Adrien scanned his parents. His mother had such a beautiful smile. He missed that. His father had the same disappointed frown as always.

The photo next to that one was Felix, Marinette, Nino, and an unfamiliar girl standing in a grass field. Felix wore a black tuxedo with a black shirt and a green tie. The girl wore a red gown with black lace trimming. Marinette’s dress was pink and poofy, ending right above her knees. She looked like a cupcake. Nino wore a white long-sleeved dress shirt, black pants, and a light green tuxedo vest. 

For some reason, it seemed very familiar. Adrien tilted his head and it came to him. Marinette and Nino were wearing the same clothes as the picture in the hallway. Adrien frowned. They weren’t even talking now. He felt guilty. If he hadn’t asked Marinette about their relationship, it wouldn’t have changed. And why had he felt the need to ask anyway?

He looked away from the picture. In reality, he knew the reason he wanted to know. He had been hoping that they weren’t dating from the beginning. It was a selfish urge, but he wasn’t ready to admit it just yet.

Adrien’s gaze landed on the black book next to the photo. He picked it up and examined the cover. “Destruction” was impressed on the front cover in silver. An outline of a cat was impressed on the back.

Felix walked in.

Adrien apologized for snooping. He handed the book to Felix. Felix hesitated. He handed the book back to Adrien.

“You can have it.”

“I can?”

“Yea,” Felix looked away from Adrien, “I don’t need it anymore.”

Adrien took the book. Felix ushered him out and the tour began. Adrien trailed behind Felix as they made their way through the living area. Felix didn’t waste his breath on minor details. Probably because Adrien had been there for a while now if it wasn’t a necessary feature Felix would skip over it. They walked by several photo boards. Adrien wanted to ask Felix about the pictures in his room, but he didn’t want to slow him down.

They stopped in the lobby. Felix showed Adrien the way to access information on Martha, the magical interface. After Adrien practiced a few times, they continued the tour. They headed to the courtyard. Felix stopped by the tall metal pole in the ground. He called it a “magic rod.” It stored excess magical energy and canceled out any magic in a ten-foot radius.

Felix looked into the distance. “And that’s my favorite location,” he gestured towards the clock tower, “they built it to remind us that magic is always with us, regardless of time and place.”

“Really?” Adrien looked up at the tower. He felt warmth in his chest.

Felix nodded. “And to prevent students from claiming they didn’t know it was class time.”

Adrien blinked. Did  _ Felix _ just tell a joke? Felix continued the tour as if he hadn’t.

By the time they made it back to the living area, the sun was up. There was a crowd of students in the courtyard, encircling the magic rod. Many were looking up, some were pointing, and others were filming. Adrien looked up. A bag hung from the top of the pole. Moments later, Marinette came into view. She climbed up towards the bag.

She fell.

Adrien and Felix made their way to the center of the crowd. Marinette dusted herself off. Nino and Alya weren’t far away from her. Their whole class was close to the front of the crowd. Chloe sat on Sabrina’s shoulders. She filmed Marinette with her phone. Marinette glared over at her before taking a few steps back and dashing to the pole. She made it higher this time before she slipped. Nino and Alya rushed forward to catch her. The three of them hit the ground with a thud. 

Chloe laughed.

“OMG! What a pack of losers!”

Marinette sat up. She glared at Chloe. Chloe took notice this time.

“Don’t you have a pole to be climbing, Monkeynette?”

“I am done.” Marinette marched toward Chloe. “Chloe Bourgeois, I challenge you to a magic battle.”

The crowd went silent. Chloe stared at Marinette. She blinked. Marinette did not budge. Chloe laughed.

“As if! Do you think you have a chance against me, Marinette?”

“It doesn’t matter! I refuse to put up with your abuse any longer.”

All eyes were on Marinette. There was something in the way her eyes gleamed, in her posture, in her voice that demanded the attention. Marinette was truly amazing. Adrien put his hand to his chest. She managed to be kind and strong and just so… amazing. He looked to Chloe for her response.

Chloe rolled her eyes. “Why should I waste my time on you? I’m going to win anyway.”

“I believe a magic battle is an excellent idea,” Felix approached the two.

“Felix?” They looked at him.

Felix adjusted the cuff of his sleeve. “It would do you some good to be knocked down a few pegs, Chloe.”

“Excuse me?”

“We grow when we are challenged. A person who is never challenged never changes.” He turned to Marinette, “As for you, you should keep that fire in your eyes from now on.”

Marinette nodded.

“She’s not going to win,” Chloe climbed off Sabrina and marched up to Felix. She glared up at him, her fists tightened. “She is never going to win.”

Felix looked down at her. “Prove it.”

“I will!”

Felix smiled for only a moment before returning to his neutral face. “In exactly one hour, you two will meet and battle on the training ground. If you are late, you forfeit the match. Agreed?”

They both agreed. The crowd dispersed as the two went in separate directions. Alya, Nino, and most of their classmates followed Marinette. Nino reached out to her but hesitated. Alya put her arm around Marinette and said something to her.

Felix started walking towards the training area. Adrien examined the pole. Felix stopped.

“You aren’t coming.”

“No, I--”

“It wasn’t a question. Best of luck.”

Adrien nodded. Once Felix was out of sight, Adrien rolled up his sleeves.


	21. Confrontation

When they met on the training ground, all of the third years seemed to be there. Felix was waiting there when Marinette arrived. Chloe and Marinette shook hands. They separated and went to opposite sides of the arena. Chloe smirked and flipped her hair. Marinette took a defensive stance. Felix announced the start of the battle.

Chloe shot lightning. Marinette jumped out of the way, pulling her wire from her utility belt. Chloe flashed out. Marinette’s eyes darted around the area. Where would she teleport to? Chloe appeared in front of Marinette. She delivered a swift kick to her stomach. Marinette tumbled back. Chloe’s foot, wrapped in wire, followed Marinette.

Marinette whipped around and slammed Chloe into the ground. Before Chloe could get up, Marinette focused her energy into the wire. The wire lengthened. It encased Chloe like a snake, grabbing its prey. Chloe squirmed. Marinette balled her right hand into a fist. The wire tightened.

Electricity shot up the wire. Marinette fell back. She dropped her spool. She struggled to her feet. Her head was buzzing. Her left arm hurt. As she tried to focus, Chloe burst out of the wire. Chloe waved toward Marinette. Chunks of the arena flew at her. Marinette waved her arm. A shield appeared. It shattered as the rocks hit it. The force of the impact caused Marinette to tumble to the ground.

She landed on her injured arm. She winced. She tried to get up. Her body refused to move. She couldn’t even catch her breath. Chloe appeared. She floated above Marinette. Chloe rose her hands in the air. The chunks of the arena all came together, weaved together with lightning. The giant rock was above Marinette. Her body was heavy. Chloe slammed her hand down.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The audience gasped. Somebody screamed. Marinette flenched. There was no impact. Marinette opened her eyes. The rock was a couple of inches above her. Chloe laughed.

“You should see your face! You’re so pathetic.”

“That’s enough.” Felix stepped into the arena.

Marinette didn’t see or hear Felix cast a spell, but the rocked poof into dust. It was a relief to know Felix would have been able to stop the rock if Chloe had decided to impale her and the arena’s safety spell had failed.

“Chloe wins.” Felix gestured to Chloe. The applause was scattered.

Chloe flipped her hair and walked off. Sabrina trailed after her but didn’t follow her out. The arena began to repair itself. Nino and Alya ran up to Marinette.

“Are you alright?” Nino grabbed her face and looked her in the eyes. Marinette gasped. It seemed like it’d been such a long time since she’d seen those golden eyes. She was quiet. “Marinette?”

“I hurt all over the place. I can’t feel my legs or my left arm, but my right arm is in a lot of pain. My pride took a pretty big hit.” Marinette smiled. “I’m ok.”

Nino hugged her. Marinette laughed.

“I’m sorry,” she choked on a cry which was attempting to escape her chest, “I’m so weak.” Her laughing turned into sobbing. She buried her face into Nino’s shirt.

“Are you kidding?” Alya dropped down beside them. “You were awesome!”

Marinette’s class joined them in the arena.

“Awesome? I didn’t even come close to winning.”

“Yea, but you stood up to Chloe.”

“She’s right,” Nino wiped Marinette’s tears away, “you were amazing.”

Kim scooped Marinette up and held her on his shoulders. He called everyone to cheer for Marinette. They cheered and complimented her. Marinette started crying again, but this time they were tears of joy. They continued to cheer as they headed to the medical bay.

Chloe was shaking. Marinette lost and still had the nerve to be carried off like a hero. The battle replayed in Chloe’s head. She’d panicked when she hit the ground. She didn’t even know what to do as the wire tightened around her. She’d come so close to-- she couldn’t even think about that. There was no way she’d lose to Marinette.

There was a thud. Chloe looked at the magic rod. Adrien dusted himself off before jumping onto the pole and climbing it. Chloe watched for a while as Adrien struggled for the bag. He got a little closer to it with each climb.

“Are you a moron?” Chloe approached Adrien after his most recent fall.

Adrien ignored her and started another climb. He got really close to the bag that time.

“Adrien, seriously, knock it off.”

He stood up and looked at her. His eyes were cold. “Chloe, I’m pretty busy right now.”

“Busy killing yourself?”

“You seemed amused by it when Marinette was climbing.”

“Because I hate her.”

Silence.

Adrien’s face softened. “You can’t mean that.”

For the first time in her life, Chloe wanted to hit Adrien. It was an unpleasant feeling.

“Of course I mean it! She disgusts me.”

“I like Marinette.”

“I know you do.”

“No, Chloe, I really like her.”

Chloe stopped. She stopped talking. She stopped breathing.

“You like  _ her _ ?”

“Yea, so I’m going to get this bag for her if you don’t mind.”

He started climbing.

Marinette spent the whole day in the medical bay. She slept most of the day. When she was awake, she chatted with Tikki. As the day ended, the nurse gave Marinette a final check-up before releasing her.

Marinette wanted--needed a hot shower. She’d probably skip dinner and just head straight there. As she arrived at the living area, she spotted Adrien sitting on the steps. He was asleep. Marinette walked up to him. She crouched down and gave him a nudge. “You’ll get sick if you sleep out here.”

Adrien opened his eyes. He smiled at her. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

Marinette blushed and laughed. “What for?”

Adrien held up her art bag. Marinette hugged him. She thanked him. Adrien pulled away. He put his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. Marinette froze.

“I’m sorry about the way Chloe treats you.”

“Don’t be.”

He pulled her into a hug. Marinette hugged him. It felt like an eternity in his arms. When they released each other it felt short lived. As Marinette pulled away, their eyes locked. His face was red. Her heartbeat quickened.

She picked up her bag and jumped to her feet.

“We should go eat,” Marinette took a few steps back.

“Yea,” Adrien stood up.

They walked together and talked like old friends. It was nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is the last chapter of The Book of Creation. That doesn't mean the story is over. The next book is The Book of Destruction and I'm sure you can guess who that centers. I can't make any promises about when that will begin posting because I'm still working on it. I will say that once I'm about to start posting it I will put a preview of it here as chapter 22, but until then this story is completed.
> 
> And since I'm here, I have a quick question. Would you all rather have a relatively short runtime for the story, but get two chapters a week OR would you guys like a longer runtime, but only get one chapter a week?
> 
> Let me know in the comments, so I can get an idea for the posting schedule for The Book of Destruction.
> 
> Thank you all for reading! I'm happy you've enjoyed the story.

**Author's Note:**

> The Book of Creation is based on my old fanfiction "Miraculous Spellbooks." The two stories have a lot in common, but even if you have read or will read the original this one is still worth a read.


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